BY SKYLER OBISPO
Journal Staff
On Oct. 30, Gov. Lourdes A. Leon Guerrero filed a petition with the Supreme Court of Guam requesting for declaratory judgement that the Attorney General Douglas B. Moylan does not have authority to approve contracts for autonomous agencies such as the Guam Power Authority and the Guam Waterworks Authority.
On Mar. 2, the Guam Economic Development Authority entered into a Subgrant Agreement with GPA, subgranting $35.4 million for power infrastructure development in Mangilao to support the Mangilao Medical Campus project. A month later, on April 1, GEDA entered into a similar agreement with the Guam Waterworks Authority, subgranting $62.9 million for the installation of water and wastewater infrastructure for the same project.
In a press statement, Adelup said the filing seeks clarity on whether the attorney general’s role in reviewing contracts for autonomous agencies is advisory only and does not include the power to approve or deny them. The move follows a series of public statements by Moylan “indicating that he would refuse to approve any contract related to the Mangilao Medical Campus project.”
In the 124-page filing, the governor cited Title 5 GCA § 5150, which states that the Attorney General shall serve as legal advisor to all agencies, autonomous agencies, instrumentalities, or public corporations, during all phases of solicitations or procurements valued at $500,000 or more.
According to the governor, both GWA and GPA are considered public corporations that operate outside the Central Accounting System, meaning they are not subject to the AG’s contract approval authority.
Leon Guerrero also argued that Section 5150 does not grant the attorney general exclusive authority over contract approval.
Moylan, however, disagrees.
“The Guam Legislature required that the democratically-elected and independent AG not only assist government officials in procurements over $500,000, but also to ensure that these government officials [and] agencies are following the law,” he told the Journal.
Moylan said the Office of the Attorney General has issued two legal opinions warning that the use of ARPA funds for the MMC project could place taxpayers at risk of having to repay the federal government.
“Just because the [Consolidated Commission on Utilities, GPA, and GWA] wants to spend most the $105 million to this unfunded medical facility does not change the AG’s office’s legal opinion that the ARP funds were illegally designated,” he said. “Further, the CCU is inorganic in violation of the 1950 Organic Act of Guam and these legal arguments are now properly before the Federal Courts.”
Leon Guerrero noted that time is of the essence, as the deadline to expend $104 million in American Rescue Plan Act funding under the State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds program is Dec. 31, 2026.
“Resolution of this issue is of grave public concern,” she wrote. “Litigation of this issue through the ordinary judicial process, commencing in the Superior Court and proceeding through potential appeals, could delay resolution for months, if not years. Such delay would impede the procurement and execution of contracts essential to the MMC project and risk the forfeiture of remaining SLRF funds.”
At the same time, the governor is urging the 38th Guam Legislature to pass Bill 2 (1-S) — a measure that would authorize GWA and GPA to use the $104 million in ARPA funding for “the installation of utilities infrastructure in Mangilao.”
According to Leon Guerrero, the funding would support the MMC project, but even as the hospital’s location remains under debate, the infrastructure upgrades would still benefit Mangilao and Barrigada residents, where power and water restoration were among the most prolonged following Typhoon Mawar in 2023.mbj
