[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 90 (Wednesday, June 16, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1121-E1122]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       A TRIBUTE TO MANUEL SEMAN AND LUISE PANGELINAN VILLAGOMEZ

                                 ______
                                 

                  HON. GREGORIO KILILI CAMACHO SABLAN

                      of northern mariana islands

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 16, 2010

  Mr. SABLAN. Madam Speaker, 86-year-old Manuel Seman Villagomez's 
kempt silver hair, easy smile and gregarious personality belie his 
years of hard work and difficult childhood. He came from a large family 
with meager possessions, but over time, intense work and unwavering 
devotion to his faith and family have made him a contented man.
  Manuel, or Manny, Villagomez was born on January 24, 1924 on Saipan, 
Northern Mariana Islands during the Japanese occupation. He is the 
youngest of ten children. His Chamorro father was born on Guam, but, at 
the age of 18, he moved to Saipan with his siblings. Manny's mother, 
half Chamorro and half Carolinian, was from Saipan.
  Manny received a sixth grade level education, the maximum allowable 
for Chamorro children under Japanese law at the time. After he 
graduated from school, he worked at the family farm and sold produce to 
the Japanese stores to support the large family. He fished with his 
father to supplement the family income. His father's love of fishing 
for kichu, or sergeant fish, was the reason for his family being 
affectionately called ``Kiyu.''

[[Page E1122]]

  During World War II, as American forces started their approach to the 
Mariana Islands, the Japanese government restricted Manny and his 
family, as well as the rest of the Chamorros, to their respective 
family farms. When the Americans landed on Saipan on June 14, 1944, 
Manny was one of the many Chamorros forced to flee to the jungle, 
hiding out in caves, trying to avoid the fierce battle that engulfed 
the island. On July 4, 1944, U.S. Marines found Manny and others hiding 
in a cave in Talofofo and led them out to Camp Susupe, where civilians 
were confined until after the war. After Japan surrendered in 1945, the 
U.S. Marines recruited Manny and 63 other Chamorro and Carolinian men 
to serve as marine scouts and search for Japanese snipers and holdouts 
on Saipan and in the Northern Islands. It was not until January 31, 
2000--55 years later--that U.S. Armed Forces formally recognized Manny 
and the other marine scouts for their service. They were officially 
sworn in, and on the same day, formally discharged from the Marine 
Corps.
  Right after the war, Manny was attracted to a young woman who would 
later become his wife for 58 years. She was Luise Pangelinan 
Villagomez, born on November 14, 1929 on Saipan. She grew up in a 
family of eight children. Luise only had a third grade education but 
she learned to speak three languages, Chamorro, Japanese, and after 
World War II, English. After two years of courtship, the young couple 
married on February 26, 1949. A month later, they moved into their new, 
albeit tiny house, which Manny had built with the earnings from his job 
as a police officer. Their marriage produced six daughters and six 
sons: Linda, Patricia, Thomas, Barbara, Manuel Jr., Joseph, Edward, 
David, Nora, John, Ramona, and Antonia.
  Manny's first job after World War II had been as a mess boy for the 
American enlisted personnel, which is how he learned to speak English. 
Thereafter, he served as a policeman for 12 years under the Trust 
Territory of the Pacific Islands' Insular Constabulary. He rose to the 
rank of sergeant and became an administrator. Manny quickly learned how 
the U.S. Naval and local governments procured goods. In 1955, he used 
his knowledge and experience to start a small grocery store, M.S. 
Villagomez Store, in Chalan Kanoa. It was the third locally owned 
grocery store in operation.
  Initially, Luise, by then a mother of four, handled the store's daily 
operations. Realizing that his wife needed help and that the family 
business presented a better opportunity, Manny left his police job. In 
1960, Manny and Luise relocated the store to a corner lot on Beach Road 
near the Chalan Kanoa post office. Six years later, in 1966, the couple 
built a large, two-story building to accommodate the expanding grocery 
and department store as well as provide office rental space.
  As the business grew, so did the family, which by 1968, had increased 
to twelve children, most of whom were old enough to work in the 
business. Manny and Luise then built a second store in Garapan which 
they later leased to Duty Free Shoppers, now DFS Galleria. During this 
time, the family business expanded to the export of scrap and recycled 
materials to Japan. The couple also entered into a joint venture with 
Luise's brother and opened a store on the island of Chuuk, one of the 
other islands in Micronesia, from 1969 to 1977.
  In December 1976, the family suffered a major setback when fire 
engulfed their department store building. Manny and Luise salvaged what 
they could from the fire and quickly reopened a small store across the 
street. As they accumulated some assets, they invested in real 
properties and gradually developed and rented them out. They resisted 
any loan offers from banks and were extremely cautious and conservative 
in their investments.
  In 1978, Saipan began to see the influx of foreign investments 
particularly from Japan. Manny and Luise leased their prime properties 
to investors for large scale developments. They reinvested their new 
capital in other real properties by again self-financing the 
construction of commercial space and apartment buildings. They also 
purchased some undeveloped real properties in the United States for 
investment and security. Having survived World War II and seen his own 
father go through changes in sovereign control in Guam and then in 
Saipan, Manny felt the need to own real property in the continental 
United States in the event the family had to flee or relocate from 
Saipan. In 1979, the Villagomez family joined several other Chamorro 
families in purchasing houses in San Leandro, California. Manny and 
Luise then moved their younger children to San Leandro to further their 
education.
  In the 1990s, Manny and Luise shifted the focus of their business 
from retail to the construction business, and to commercial and 
apartment rental. So that they could pursue their love of traveling, 
they also decided to transfer the management and operation of the 
business to their children. Manny and Luise were able to visit many 
cities in Europe, traveled extensively throughout Asia and the U.S., 
and spent considerable time at their San Leandro home.
  While Manny is widely known for his business accomplishments, he is 
most proud of his service as the first Civilian Aide to the Secretary 
of the Army (CASA) for the Northern Mariana Islands, a position he held 
from 1988 to 2000. As the NMI's CASA, Manny enjoyed the time he spent 
supporting the generals, veterans and active soldiers.
  Manny and Luise never lost sight of their civic duties. In 1990, they 
made a sizeable donation for the construction of the first major public 
library, the Joeten-Kiyu Library, in Susupe, Saipan. They were generous 
benefactors to schools, churches and charitable organizations. Manny 
and his children continue the tradition of giving and assisting others 
in the community.
  It was always the couple's dream to have their children reunited on 
Saipan. During the 1990s, Manny and Luise subdivided their large Fina 
Sisu property purchased in the 1950s and helped their children build 
their own homes there. Today, the lake and ocean view property, known 
as the MSV Kiyu compound, is a quaint, friendly place where all the 
twelve children have homes and where a majority of the 40 
grandchildren, 30 great grandchildren, and two great-great 
grandchildren can be seen visiting throughout the year. It is also 
where Luise peacefully passed away surrounded by her loving family in 
September 2007 at the age of 77 years.
  Today, Manny lives in the family compound with ten of his children 
and their families. He still travels but spends most of his time in the 
compound tending to his mini-farm, fruit trees, and other plants, and 
living a quiet and peaceful life.

                          ____________________