To our fellow Yapese people at home and abroad,

Sirow,

As we approach the day to cast our votes of confidence in this general and historic election of 2022, Arnold and I and our families would like to thank God for His grace, goodness, and especially for His Love for all His people. We are humbled by all the support and prayers by friends and fellow Yapese who believe that we must focus our eyes on the Lord and let His Will be done in this election going forward. We all must love one another and regardless of which team or individual wins in this election, we all must honor and support. We believe in clean and honest campaigning.

As the incumbent team, we are running for reelection not only because we are still eligible to run for another term, but we believe that there is so much more we can still contribute to our humble state and to the improvement of our people’s lives. With the experiences I have had as Lt. Governor and now Governor, I am confident and more determined that our team will be able to bring about some positive changes to improve the welfare of our people, especially with the support of our leadership and the people of Yap. This can only be achieved through a cohesive and cooperative inter as well as intra governmental relationships throughout our state and national leaderships. As a priority, one of our goals is to ensure a good working relationship within the state government so as to be able to deliver the needs and satisfy the aspirations of the people of Yap State. Our strength is in our unity.

We believe in the bottom-up approach in which our communities who know their needs better should tell the government, not the government dictating to the communities their needs and how to approach such needs. The government’s role is to support the communities’ requests and assist them in the planning, designing, and financing of their projects and programs.

Having Arnold Yokbay Ken as my running mate in this election is very comforting for me as we have known each other and have worked well together for many years in our former capacities at the Yap Department of Education as the Main Island Schools and the Neighboring Islands Schools Administrators. We are open in working together as a team and respect each other’s opinion. Teamwork in good spirit is what we need and that is what we have now and we will seek from others as well. Like other human beings, we have our own weaknesses and shortcomings and we are far from being perfect. Past inappropriateness and mistakes are accepted as lessons learned. If we have offended anyone or hurt anyone’s feelings, please forgive us and sirow.

In the short term as Governor of the State of Yap, I am happy to say that my cabinet members and our administration have worked hard and accomplished as much as possible to make sure that the government is more organized and ready for the next administration when it comes in. With the help of the Legislature, we were able to nominate and confirm all the members of the boards for each of the departments and agencies in the state. This is the first time in many years that the Department of Health Services has a full board to support the DHS administration. Likewise, the Department of Education’s board is also up and conducting meetings without any more vacancies.

I want to thank Former Governor Falan for all the work and the time we had spent in office together. I give him all the credits for whatever accomplishments we were able to achieve during our time together in office. He is a good man and I pray and wish him and his family the very best.

We also want to thank the leadership of Yap State for its support and contributions to keep our administration afloat and keep all of us together working as one. We believe that respecting each other and working together is the key for progress and success. We also want to thank the national government and especially President David Panuelo and his administration for all the support for the State of Yap and her people. Their friendship and support for the State of Yap and our nation will be cherished wholeheartedly and will not go unnoticed. Our administration is happy to convey to the people of Yap State that our friendship with the other sister states has been solidified by the establishment of the Governors Association in the month of September 2022 in Pohnpei during the F.S.M. Expo week. Our sincere thank you to the FSM Congress and especially to our Yap State Congressional Delegation, Senator Joseph Urusemal and Senator Isaac Figir, for all their support and contributions to the welfare of our state. Without their support and dedication, Yap State would not be able to afford all the financial needs, especially for the essential needs for this COVID-19 pandemic. We want to thank them for everything that they have contributed to help the people and the State of Yap.

With all that being said, our team will leave everything up to God and to the good people of Yap State here at home and abroad to make their choice of the team they will choose to lead us for the next four years. We and our families wish to extend our heartfelt gratitude and appreciation to the people of Yap for trusting me to be their servant as Lt. Governor and Governor for the past term in office. It has been a blessing and a challenging experience. It was truly a great privilege and honor for me to serve you all for the past four years.

Let’s continue to pray and Let His will be done. Please make an effort to cast your votes on November 8, 2022 as it is your right and your power to help in shaping the Yap State government to better serve its people. Should anyone have anything that they would like to ask or suggest, please do not hesitate to contact us at (691) 350-2108 or 350-2750 or through our respective email addresses: jjsalalu@gmail.com or yokbayken@gmail.com.

Kammagar, Hoisa Hachigchig, and Thank you all very much! God bless and Sirow!