Teresita Santos Explained

State Senate1:Northern Mariana Islands
District1:Rota 1st
Term1:2015–2022
State House2:Northern Mariana Islands
District2:7th
Term2:2010–2014

Teresita Apatang Santos (born October 25, 1959)[1] [2] is a politician from the Northern Mariana Islands and current Secretary of the Department of Public Lands.[3] She previously served as a member of the Northern Mariana Islands House of Representatives and as a member of the Northern Mariana Islands Senate.[4]

Santos, a resident of the island of Rota,[5] is a member of the Republican Party, and represented the 1st Senatorial District. She was the Legislative Secretary of the Senate. She chaired the committee on Health and Welfare; she is the vice-chair of the committees on Education and Youth Affairs, Fiscal Affairs, and Judiciary, Government, and Law, and was a member of the committees on Rules and Procedure and Executive Appointments and Government Investigations.[6] She has spoken of the need to invest more money in the Commonwealth Healthcare Corporation to improve its hospital services.[7] As of 2017 she was the only woman sitting in the Senate.[8] Santos served in the House of Representatives alongside Felicidad Ogumoro and Janet Maratita; when the latter was sworn in for a new term in 2011 the three became the first three women to serve together in the House in the history of the Northern Mariana Islands. At the time she was an independent.[9] Her cousin is the former director of the Department of Public Safety on Rota, Felix M. Santos, who challenged her for her seat in the House in 2012.[5] In the 2022 general election, Santos ran to be Mayor of Rota.[10] Aubrey Manglona Hocog won the election while Santos finished third of five candidates.[11]

Electoral history

2024

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Inauguration of the Seventeenth Northern Marianas Commonwealth Legislature. January 11, 2010. Northern Mariana Islands Commonwealth Legislature. May 12, 2024. 30.
  2. Santos. Teresita. Kristina Kekuewa. Marianas Trench NMS nomination. March 4, 2022. NOAA. April 14, 2024. https://downloads.regulations.gov/NOAA-NOS-2022-0005-0033/attachment_1.pdf.
  3. News: Dela Torre. Ferdie. Santos seeks Senate support to enable DPL to tap $1M settlement. February 14, 2024. Saipan Tribune. April 14, 2024.
  4. News: Erediano. Emmanuel. Former Sen. Santos appointed as DPL chief. February 23, 2024. Marianas Variety. April 14, 2024.
  5. Web site: Santos vs. Santos on Rota. Emmanuel T.. Erediano . Marianas Variety. 30 November 2017.
  6. Web site: Teresita Santos. Northern Marianas Commonwealth Legislature. 30 November 2017.
  7. Web site: Senator Santos: Let’s invest in CHCC. Marianas Variety. Marianas Variety. 30 November 2017.
  8. Web site: CNMI and Guam - Report: Women still underrepresented in govt - Representation20/20. Representation2020.com. www.representation2020.com. 30 November 2017.
  9. Web site: Janet Maratita is sworn into office - Saipan News, Headlines, Events, Ads - Saipan Tribune. www.saipantribune.com. 30 November 2017.
  10. News: De La Torre. Ferdie. Santos to run as Rota mayor. June 13, 2022. Saipan Tribune. April 24, 2024.
  11. Web site: Official General Election Results Certified on November 11, 2022. November 11, 2022. Northern Mariana Islands Election Commission. December 27, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20221227161334/https://www.votecnmi.gov.mp/2022-election-results. December 27, 2022.