AS A senator, I have purposely named my office the Office of the People, simply because the work my office continues to do on a daily basis is always in the best interest of the people of Guam. Last week Monday, the Office of the People held a Legislative Oversight Hearing, to truly find out the status of two issues: (1) manual processing of financial transactions; and (2) the non-payment of 2011 income tax refunds.

The first issue has negatively impacted the business community, the community at-large and the government of Guam for more than six months because the Department of Administration cancelled the existing Point-of-Sale contract without ensuring a seamless transition to a new system. The result is that the government is unable to electronically post hundreds of thousands of financial transactions at the point of payment, creating opportunities for misplaced and reconciled payment records. How many times have you heard horror stories about a business or friend receiving a demand for payment from the government of Guam for something that was already paid because the government lost the documents?

The second issue, the payment of 2011 income tax refunds, is not occurring even though revenue collections of the government have exceeded projections by 7.7 percent or $19.4 million. Why? The administration is withholding tens of millions of dollars belonging to the people with no valid explanation while they use the Attorney General’s Office as an excuse to deceive the public.

Although these important issues were what the Office of the People sought answers to, what the administration provided the people was a blatant and inexcusable absence with notice only given 30 minutes prior to the actual oversight hearing. It was an affront to the people that the administration hid behind such statements as “the Attorney General advised us not to attend the oversight hearing.” Based on the Attorney General’s response that he actually did not give such advice, the people came to find out the reason given by the appointees of the governor and the governor himself were blatant attempts to conceal the true reasons and financial figures from the public regarding the Point-of-Sale and the status of paying 2011 income tax refunds.

Moreover, every Monday, we continue to see the administration's "transparency” efforts on display, touting the services that every administration prior to this one has performed for the people year in and year out. What about “transparently” discussing how much cash has been deposited into the Income Tax Refund Efficient Payment Trust Fund from 2012 revenue collections? What are the written policies and procedures for handling income tax refund checks that are unclaimed? What is the total number and amount of unclaimed income tax refund checks by tax year? These were just a few of the questions guarded in a veil of secrecy from the people. Anytime the Office of the People inquires about cash in the bank or payment of refunds, it is pushed back by a stronger will to withhold the truth by the administration.

We all have the right to know the successes, the failures and the financial information of our government. While it is important to provide information to the people about the successes of a government in achieving what the people pay tax monies for, it is also imperative that the failures be noticed such that they can be rectified in a timely manner. Failing to show up to a legislative oversight hearing and outright fabricating an excuse to the people of Guam, as to the reasons for not showing up, is a disservice to the people of Guam. Transparency should involve both the successes and failures of our government, so that adequate pressure can be placed in those areas needing improvement, like the payment of 2011 income tax refunds.