Jesse John Salalu is a Micronesian politician who served as the eighth Governor of Yap from December 29,2021 to January 9,2023. [2] Salalu was sworn into office following Henry Falan being ousted by the Yap legislature. [2] [3] He previously served as lieutenant Governor of Yap under Falan from January 2019 to December 2021. He was the first Governor of Yap to be born on the outer islands,which meant his lieutenant governor had to have been born on the main island of Yap. [2]
Prior to running for public office,Salalu served as a teacher,high school principal,and regional administrator for the Neighboring Islands at the Yap State Department of Education. [4] Salalu serves on the College of Micronesia Board of Regents,where he is the vice-chairman. [5]
In 2018,Jesse J. Salalu ran for Lieutenant Governor alongside Henry Falan running for Governor. They won against the incumbent Governor Tony Ganngiyan and Lieutenant Governor Francis I. Itimai with 51.7% of the vote. [6]
On 21 March 2022,40 doctors and nurses resigned from the state hospital after Salalu's administration refused to listen to requests to raise wages. [7] Prior to the resignation,members of the Yap medical community sent a request to the Office of the Governor for an opportunity to voice their grievances regarding their working conditions at the Yap Memorial Hospital in Colonia.
Their grievances include:understaffing,low salaries,which led to an inability to keep qualified doctors,temporary contracts setup by the Falan government expiring,and the Yap legislature not approving the JEMCO (US-FSM Joint Economic Management Committee) grant that was meant for wage increases for those working at the hospital. [8]
After Salalu declined to meet with the doctors and nurses,they turned in their letters of resignation to the Office on 29 March. On 31 March,Salalu subsequently declared a state of emergency. [7]
The politics of the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) takes place in a framework of a federal assembly-independent representative democratic republic. The President of the Federated States of Micronesia is both head of state and head of government. Executive power is exercised by the president and his cabinet,while legislative power is vested in both the president and the Congress. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.
The Compacts of Free Association (COFA) are international agreements establishing and governing the relationships of free association between the United States and the three Pacific Island sovereign states of the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM),the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI),and the Republic of Palau. As a result,these countries are sometimes known as the Freely Associated States (FASs). All three agreements next expire in 2043.
Yap State is one of the four states of the Federated States of Micronesia,located in the westernmost portion of the country. The state borders Palau to the southwest,Guam to the north,and Chuuk State to the east. According to the state's population census carried out in 2020,the total population is 11,577 residing across a total area of 119.54 sq km,though a large majority of the area is water. The only town area in the state,Colonia,serves as the state capital.
The College of Micronesia-FSM (COM-FSM) is a public community college in the Federated States of Micronesia. It began operation in 1963 as the Micronesian Teacher Education Center.
The Habele Outer Island Education Fund is a South Carolina–based charitable organization serving K-12 aged students in Micronesia. Habele's initial geographic focus was the so-called "Outer Islands" of Yap State as well as lagoon and outer islands in neighboring Chuuk State in the Federated States of Micronesia. It now serves students of all backgrounds throughout the Freely Associated States.
Micronesian Americans are Americans who are descended from people of the Federated States of Micronesia,although the term may also include people descended from the US unincorporated territory of the Northern Mariana Islands. According to the 2020 US Census,a total of 21,596 residents self-identified as having origins in the country,which consists of four states. More than half of these residents identified their origin as Chuuk State (12,464) with the rest as follows:4,918 people from Pohnpei,2,066 from Yap,and 2,148 people from Kosrae.
Petrus Tun was a Micronesian politician,who played an important role during the first days of Micronesian independence and in the Trust Territory times that preceded them.
Sebastian L. Anefal is a Micronesian politician currently serving as the FSM Ambassador Plenipotentiary to Fiji. He was nominated by President Peter M. Christian to his current post in mid-2015 and took office on January 8,2016.
Typhoon Sudal,known in the Philippines as Typhoon Cosme,was the strongest typhoon to strike the island of Yap in the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) in about 50 years. Yap is one of the four administrative divisions of the FSM. The entire island,only 17 km (11 mi) in length,experienced typhoon force winds,and 90% of the structures were damaged or destroyed. Damage was most severe in southeastern Yap,where the eyewall struck and winds exceeded 185 km/h (115 mph),but the center of the typhoon passed south of the island.
The office of the Governor of Yap is the highest elected position in the state of Yap,Federated States of Micronesia.
The office of the Governor of Chuuk is the highest elected position in the state of Chuuk,Federated States of Micronesia. The state was called Truk until 1989,so the title of this office prior to the change was Governor of Truk.
Robert Ruecho is a Micronesian politician and diplomat. Ruecho served as the Governor of Yap,one of the four states which make up the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM),from 2003 to 2007. He became the Consul-General for FSM on neighboring Guam on October 17,2011.
Gerson Jackson is a Micronesian politician and diplomat.
Yosiwo Palikkun George was a Micronesian politician.
The 2018 Yap gubernatorial election took place on Tuesday,November 6,2018,to elect the Governor and Lieutenant Governor of the Yap State in the Federated States of Micronesia to a four-year term in office. The election coincided with the Yap State general election,including legislative contests to select Senators of the Yap State Legislature.
The Human Rights Measurement Initiative finds that the Federated States of Micronesia are fulfilling 94.9% of what it should be fulfilling for the right to health based on its level of income. When looking at the right to health with respect to children,the Federated States of Micronesia achieve 97.1% of what is expected based on their current income. In regards to the right to health amongst the adult population,the country achieves only 91.9% of what is expected based on the nation's level of income. The Federated States of Micronesia fall into the "good" category when evaluating the right to reproductive health because the nation is fulfilling only 95.8% of what the nation is expected to achieve based on the resources (income) it has available.
Henry S. Falan is a Micronesian politician and the former Governor of Yap from January 19,2019,to December 17,2022. Falan was removed from his position as governor by the Yap state legislature. Jesse Salalu,his former Lieutenant Governor,took his place as Governor of Yap.
Gardenia Aisek is a Microneasian educator and government official. Aisek was the first woman elected to the Chuuk State Legislature. She then became the first female Secretary of the Federated States of Micronesia Department of Education.
The traditional councils of the Yap State are two assemblies of traditional leaders:the Pilung Council for the chiefs of the Yap Islands and the Tamol Council for the chiefs of the Outer Yap Islands. They have been established in 1992 by the Constitution of the Yap State,within the Federated States of Micronesia. The executive,the legislative,the judiciary and the traditional councils are the four institutional branches of government in the Yap State,but the councils,unlike the others,transcend the concept of the separation of powers. The councils are responsible for exercising the functions that relate to tradition and custom,which are not required to be recorded in the written law. In the Yap State,custom and tradition prevail over any interpretation of the constitution and even over any judicial decision. The councils have the right to veto legislation that they consider to be contrary to traditional practices. The constitutionality of these councils and their veto power could be challenged under the Micronesian Federal Constitutional Law,but to this date no one has done it.
Charles Sigfred Chieng is a Micronesian politician,and as of 9 January 2023,the ninth governor of Yap.