Attao-Villagomez opens new campaign HQ, says super typhoons reshaped race

The independent gubernatorial ticket of Rep. Blas Jonathan "BJ" Tenorio Attao and House Speaker Edmund Joseph Sablan Villagomez last Thursday, Aug. 6, held its first community conversation at its new campaign headquarters along Chalan Pale Arnold Road in Puerto Rico, located in the former Island Apparel building, after relocating from its original headquarters, which the candidates said was damaged by Super Typhoon Sinlaku.

The gathering marked Team AV's first community meeting since filing its petitions for candidacy last July 30 and drew supporters to the campaign's new headquarters, where Attao and Villagomez provided updates on their campaign and discussed how Super Typhoon Sinlaku and Super Typhoon Bavi, both Category 5 storms, disrupted traditional campaigning as recovery efforts took priority.

Attao said the campaign's original headquarters, located near the old Bencam Building in Garapan, became unusable after Super Typhoon Sinlaku damaged its interior.

"Sinlaku came and visited and hung out for a couple of days, and it actually damaged the inside," Attao said. "So the landlord was kind of worried that people would get injured, so we had to move from that area."

Villagomez said the campaign quickly found a replacement site that offers more space and easier access for supporters and residents.

"We found this nice piece of property, commercial space for our headquarters," Villagomez said. "Is it better? Yes, space-wise. Some work's still being done, but it's already usable as our headquarters, for people to come by, for meetings to be held, and gatherings like this as well."

Attao credited campaign volunteers for preparing the new headquarters, saying its location along a main roadway makes it more accessible to the public.

"We're fortunate that we got one closer to the main road, and so it's easily accessible for anybody in the community, supporters, friends, family, or anybody that wants to join the movement of the ‘Voice for All,’” Attao said. "We've been using makeshift homes for the last couple weeks. We're over at our residence up in Navy Hill, which is not too far from here, but there's a lot more parking spaces here, and we're able to address a lot more people and be more accessible for people in this area."

The candidates said this year's campaign has unfolded differently from previous gubernatorial races because recovery from Super Typhoon Sinlaku and Super Typhoon Bavi took precedence over campaign activities.

"The typhoon happened before any of the filings of the petitions and all of that stuff," Attao said. "So a lot of people were dedicating their time and efforts into recovery."

Attao said the ticket traveled to Rota and Tinian, where they said they assisted with recovery efforts and visited residents following the storms. On Saipan, he said the campaign has begun conducting house-to-house visits and plans to continue expanding that outreach.

Villagomez said the campaign had mapped out its schedule well before the election season, but those plans changed after the typhoons.

"We actually had a calendar mapped out for the year, or at least leading up to the election," Villagomez said. "Unfortunately, everything had to take a detour to help with the recovery efforts."

Despite the setbacks, Villagomez said the campaign is grateful to volunteers, supporters and committee members who helped establish the new headquarters, describing it as a place where residents can learn more about the campaign and its platform.

During the interview, Attao also congratulated the Democratic Party of the Northern Mariana Islands candidates on filing their petitions for candidacy and said the independent ticket remains open to working with anyone interested in joining what it calls its "Voice for All" movement.