{{Short description|Northern Mariana Islands politician}} {{Infobox officeholder |name = Benjamin Manglona |image = |image_size = |caption = |order = 3rd |state = |office = Lieutenant Governor of the Northern Mariana Islands |term_start = January 8, 1990 |term_end = January 10, 1994 |governor = Larry De Leon Guerrero |predecessor = Pedro Agulto Tenorio |successor = Jesus Camacho Borja |office2 = President of the Northern Mariana Islands Senate |term_start2 = January 11, 1988 |term_end2 = January 8, 1990 |predecessor2 = Julian S. Calvo |successor2 = Joseph Songao Inos |office3 = Mayor of Rota |term_start3 = January 12, 1998 |term_end3 = January 11, 2006 |predecessor3 = Joseph Songao Inos |successor3 = Joseph Songao Inos |birth_name = Benjamin Taisacan Manglona |birth_date = {{birth date|1938|3|31}} |birth_place = Mariana Islands, South Pacific Mandate |death_date = {{death date and age|2016|4|24|1938|3|31}} |death_place = Rota, Northern Mariana Islands |party = Republican |profession = Politician, civil engineer |spouse = |alma_mater = Honolulu Community College<br>University of Guam |footnotes = }}
'''Benjamin Taisacan Manglona''' (Chamorro: ''Manglo'ña'') (March 31, 1938<ref name=st/> – April 24, 2016) was a Northern Marianan politician and civil engineer. He is the CNMI's longest serving elected official having served as a congressman, senator, and former mayor of Rota (the third largest island in the CNMI chain). Manglona served as the third lieutenant governor of the Northern Mariana Islands from 1990 to 1994 and as Mayor of Rota from 1998 to 2006.<ref name=st2>{{cite news |first=Haidee V.|last=Eugenio|title=Senate OKs renaming Rota airport after former mayor Manglona |url=http://www.saipantribune.com/newsstory.aspx?cat=1&newsID=108530 |work=Saipan Tribune |date=2011-04-11 |accessdate=2011-04-11 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120405184319/http://www.saipantribune.com/newsstory.aspx?cat=1&newsID=108530 |archivedate=2012-04-05|url-status=dead}}</ref>
==Biography== ===Early life=== Manglona was born on March 31, 1938.<ref name=st>{{cite news |first=Clarissa|last=David|title=Resolution honors former Rota mayor |url=http://www.saipantribune.com/newsstory.aspx?cat=1&newsID=108174 |work=Saipan Tribune |date=2011-03-30 |accessdate=2011-04-10|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120323153203/http://www.saipantribune.com/newsstory.aspx?cat=1&newsID=108174 |archivedate=2012-03-23|url-status=dead}}</ref> He earned a degree in Engineering Technology from Honolulu Community College in Hawaii and an associates degree in Civil Engineering Technology from the University of Guam.<ref name=st/>
Manglona began his career as a junior engineering aide, before his promotion to supervisor.<ref name=st/> He also worked as an assistant clerk of court and a station manager for Continental Micronesia, the major airline of Micronesia.<ref name=st/>
===Political career=== In 1963, Manglona launched his political career when he was elected to the Marianas District Legislature, serving from 1963 to 1965.<ref name=st/><ref name=st2/> He then became a representative in the Congress of Micronesia from 1965 to 1970, as the Northern Mariana Islands were part of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands at the time.<ref name=st/><ref name=st2/>
Manglona became a member of the Marianas Political Status Commission representing Rota in 1972.<ref name=st2/> He served as the first Vice President of the Northern Mariana Islands' First Constitutional Convention of 1976.<ref name=st2/> In that role, Manglona helped draft the Constitution of the Northern Mariana Islands, which was later ratified by voters and approved by the U.S. President.<ref name=st2/> Maglona took office as a Senator in the first sitting Northern Mariana Islands Commonwealth Legislature in 1978.<ref name=st/> He was re-elected to the Senate in each successive election until the sixth Legislature, when he was elected lieutenant governor.<ref name=st/>
Manglona was elected Lieutenant Governor of the Northern Mariana Islands in the 1989 on the gubernatorial ticket of Lorenzo I. De Leon Guerrero.<ref name=st/> Manglona was sworn into office in January 1990 and served one term until 1994. While lieutenant governor, Governor Guerrero assigned Manglona as the Commonwealth's point person for Section 902 talks with the U.S. national government.<ref name="Willens Interview 1993">{{cite interview|last=Guerrero|first=Lorenzo|interviewer=Howard P. Willens and Deanne C. Siemer|title=Interview of Lorenzo I. Guerrero|date=December 27, 1993|publisher=Northern Marianas Humanities Council|url=http://www.nmhcouncil.org/nmhc_archives/Oral%20Histories/Guerrero%2C%20Lorenzo%20I.pdf|access-date=April 10, 2026|archive-date=October 26, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211026064256/http://www.nmhcouncil.org/nmhc_archives/Oral%20Histories/Guerrero,%20Lorenzo%20I.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>
He defeated incumbent Mayor of Rota Joseph Songao Inos in 1997 and served for two consecutive terms in office from 1998 to 2006.<ref name=st/> Manglona was succeeded as Mayor by Joseph Songao Inos on January 11, 2006.<ref name=st3>{{cite news |first=Agnes E.|last=Donato|title='Rota will not be neglected' |url=http://www.saipantribune.com/newsstory.aspx?cat=1&newsID=53904 |work=Saipan Tribune |date=2006-01-12 |accessdate=2011-04-10|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120405184245/http://www.saipantribune.com/newsstory.aspx?cat=1&newsID=53904 |archivedate=2012-04-05|url-status=dead}}</ref>
In March 2011, the Northern Mariana Islands House of Representatives adopted House Resolution 17-45, which honored Benjamin Manglona for "his distinguished career in public office and his exemplary contributions to the CNMI."<ref name=st/> The house resolution, which was authored by Rep. Teresita A. Santos (Independent-Rota), was presented to Manglona on March 29, 2011.<ref name=st/>
On April 6, 2011, the Northern Mariana Islands Senate, where Manglona once served, passed a bill which would rename Rota International Airport as "Benjamin Taisacan Manglona International Airport" in recognition of his public service.<ref name=st2/> The bill became law when it passed the House and was signed by Governor Benigno Fitial.<ref name=st2/> N.M.I. Pub. L. 17-53, Sept. 26, 2011.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cnmilaw.org/pdf/public_laws/17/pl17-53.pdf |title= Declaration |date= September 26, 2011|website=www.cnmilaw.org |format=PDF|access-date=2019-07-25}}</ref>
Manglona died on April 24, 2016, in Rota, Northern Mariana Islands from a stroke, aged 78.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.saipantribune.com/index.php/benjamin-t-manglona-78/|title=Benjamin T. Manglona, 78|date=April 24, 2016|website=Saipan News, Headlines, Events, Ads | Saipan Tribune}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
{{s-start}} {{s-off}} {{s-bef|before=Pedro Agulto Tenorio}} {{s-ttl|title=Lieutenant Governor of the Northern Mariana Islands|years=1990–1994}} {{s-aft|after=Jesus Borja}} {{s-end}}
{{Lieutenant Governors of the Northern Mariana Islands}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Manglona, Benjamin}} Category:1938 births Category:2016 deaths Category:20th-century mayors of places in the Northern Mariana Islands Category:21st-century mayors of places in the Northern Mariana Islands Category:Chamorro people Category:Lieutenant governors of the Northern Mariana Islands Category:Mayors of Rota (island) Category:Presidents of the Northern Mariana Islands Senate Category:Republican Party (Northern Mariana Islands) politicians Category:University of Guam alumni