Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero called the Guam Legislature into an eighth special session Tuesday morning to consider emergency legislation that would allow construction of a new Simon Sanchez High School campus to proceed despite ongoing procurement protests.
The special session, convening at 9 a.m. in the Speaker Antonio R. Unpingco Legislative Session Hall, will take up Bill No. 314-38, titled "An Act to Build Simon Sanchez High School Now."
The bill, introduced last week by Acting Governor Joshua F. Tenorio, would authorize the Department of Public Works to proceed immediately with the award and performance of the SSHS construction contract even while procurement protests or appeals remain pending. It preserves the right of protesters to seek legal remedies but limits relief to monetary damages, prohibiting courts from stopping construction once it has commenced in good faith absent a clear showing of fraud or bad faith.
In her letter to Speaker Frank F. Blas Jr., Leon Guerrero warned that without the legislation, the government may be forced to cancel the current procurement entirely and restart from scratch. "The students of SSHS have waited long enough," she wrote.
SSHS students currently share the John F. Kennedy High School campus under a double-session arrangement the governor called a temporary solution that has persisted far beyond its intended purpose. The bill also requires DPW to submit quarterly progress reports to the Legislature from contract award through substantial completion.
The session will be broadcast on GTA Channel 21 and Docomo Channel 117 and streamed at guamlegislature.gov.