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N. Marianas judge says sorry to Pinoys for adios muchacho remark


SAIPAN, CNMI – A Superior Court judge in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands apologized on Friday to Filipinos and Chamorros in this US territory over his use of the phrase adios muchacho (“Bye, kid" but also “Bye, servant") and two other statements in court cases involving Filipinos. The CNMI has some 10,000 to 15,000 overseas Filipino workers, their families, and Filipino-Americans. The three-hour sanctions hearing on Friday came about a month after the CNMI Supreme Court found Superior Court Associate Judge Kenneth Govendo’s use of the phrases in court to be racially derogatory and a violation of canons and rules for judicial conduct. Leaders of Filipino groups in the CNMI said they accept the judge’s apology, and hope this would serve as lesson to all and would improve understanding of cultures. “As a Filipino and a God-loving person, I accept his apology. If he does that again, he should be reprimanded right away. I hope he does not further harm the Filipinos with his choice of words," said Rene Reyes, president of the Marianas Advocates for Humanitarian Affairs Ltd. or Mahal. Govendo said he is not a “loose cannon" as he apologized to Filipinos and Chamorros who may have been offended with his use of “adios muchacho" in court. The judge said he had no idea that the phrase “adios muchacho" would be interpreted as insulting to Filipinos until his former clerk, Myrna Santos, told him about it after a hearing involving a Filipino defendant. “I was really surprised. So I would like to apologize to every Filipino," Govendo said at the sanctions hearing Friday. The judge said what he really meant when he said “muchacho" was “boy" or “young man" based on what he saw on TV. He said his wife is a local, but that he had no idea that for Filipinos and to Chamorros, the word “muchacho" means a servant or a household slave. The CNMI and the Philippines were both colonized by the Spaniards and many of their words were derived from the Spanish language. Ronnie Doca, president of Pilcowa and United Workers Movement-NMI board chair, said he does not believe that the judge does not know what “muchacho" means to Filipinos and Chamorros. “But I accept the apology in behalf of foreign workers and Filipinos here. He accepts that what he said is hurtful to Filipinos. It’s now up to the court to sanction the judge," Doca told GMANews.TV. Doca said he personally knows the Filipino who was referred to by the judge when he said “adios muchacho." Roger S. Castillo, a Filipino worker in the CNMI, complained in 2008 that he had been unfairly tried in a domestic violence case against him. A sanctions hearing on the matter was held only on Friday Oct. 15 in the CNMI Supreme Court. The judge said he would also like to apologize to Chamorros who may have been offended with his use of such phrase in court. CNMI Associate Justice Alexandro Castro, CNMI Associate Justice pro tempore Edward Manibusan and Guam Superior Court Judge Vern Perez presided over the three-hour hearing that will determine what sanctions to be imposed on Govendo.—Haidee V. Eugenio/JV, GMANews.TV

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