Un Puengi Ta'lo

Jesus "Chamorro" Charfauros

 Un puengi ta'lo

Chamorro radio fans honor decades of 'Oba Skoba'

2:00 PM, Nov. 1, 2012

Dozens of Chamorro music fans gathered on Sept. 29 to honor a man who helped make Chamorro music popular through the radio airways.

"One More Night with Jesus 'Chamorro' Charfauros" was held at the Kahida Room in the Guam Plaza Hotel on Sept. 29.

It was a night filled with live Chamorro music with some Chamorro music legends, including Flora Baza Quan, Ike Charfauros, John Acfalle, Ben "Lam Lam" San Nicolas, Rose Certeza, and others.
In the 1970s and '80s, Jesus "Chamorro" Charfauros was a driving force behind Chamorro music on Guam. He ruled the airwaves with his 610AM show, "Programma Chamorrita," incorporating song and the Chamorro language into the music diet of island residents.

And when there wasn't enough Chamorro music to fill the airwaves, he and his brothers, Tommy and Ike Charfauros, would record artists themselves to fill the gaps.

He worked with various local artists throughout the years and many of them came out to sing at the event to honor him. Jesus Chamorro retired several years ago.

Those that remember him on the radio came to love his rhythmic patter, quirky personality and humorous way with words, coining such slang as "oba skoba," meaning "over the top" or "too much."
Big Beat Guam and KISH 102.9 hosted the event, which paid tribute to the man who helped thrust Chamorro music into the mainstream.

Hosts for the evening were Helen "Island Girl" Aguon from Isla 63 and Johnny Z from MegaMixx.
Sens. Ben Pangelinan and Tom Ada, who are running for re-election, presented Charfauros with a legislative resolution honoring his 50-plus years of promoting Chamorro culture and music.

Charfauros started off his speech with a big yell of "Oba skoba!" which got the crowd excited. He thanked everyone for coming to the event to honor him and said, "It's a beautiful night" in Chamorro.
Mark Charfauros, his son, says the family was happy to see friends and family come out to honor his father. He says his father pushed for Chamorro language and culture preservation, and it was fitting that the night was filled with Chamorro music.

In May, the University of Guam bestowed upon Jesus Charfauros the Master of Micronesian Traditional Knowledge honorary degree -- a rare honor.

Mary Blas, 43, says it was a great event and says she remembers listening to Charfauros back in the day. Blas says she was happy to come out to the event because she was able to listen to some of her favorite Chamorro artists live.

"It's not very often that you see so many Chamorro singers in one room," she says.

By Jerick Sablan Pika staff jpsablan@guampdn.com

Guamanian v. Chamorro

Chamorro versus Guamanian:
Terminology in Calvo speech draws criticism

Written by Brett Kelman
Pacific Daily News
March 16, 2011


Gov. Eddie Calvo apologized yesterday to any Chamorros who were offended by his word choice in his State of the Island speech, but he didn't apologize for his extensive use of "Guamanian."

During an interview yesterday, Calvo explained that he used the word Guamanian to include all residents of Guam -- regardless of their ethnicities. The term includes Chamorros, but not solely Chamorros, he said.

"We have Asian Guamanians, we have Filipino Guamanians and a host of people from other cultures," Calvo said yesterday. "These are people who are not Chamorro by birth, but they live here. They have made a home on Guam ..."

'Back of the bus'

During his 70-minute speech on Monday, Calvo used the word "Guamanian" six times as often as the word "Chamorro." After the speech, Democratic Sen. Ben Pangelinan said the Chamorro people were missing from the speech.

" ... It's sad we're relegated in our own homeland by our own governor to the back of the bus," Pangelinan told Pacific News Center in an interview after the speech.

Yesterday morning, Calvo took a call from a K-57 radio talk show on Pangelinan's comment. Calvo said on the show he apologized if anyone was offended by his speech.

"As a person, I don't like to offend people, so I feel bad about it," Calvo told the Pacific Daily News yesterday. "But I'm comfortable with what I said."

So what did he actually say?

According to a copy of the speech released by the governor's office, Calvo used the word "Guamanian" 26 times, but used only "Chamorro" four times.

All four uses of the word Chamorro were referencing ancient Chamorro communities, and one of those is a quote from the late Gov. Ricardo Bordallo.

Here is an example, where Calvo discussed the ancient village of Hila'an, which was recently returned to Guam's civilian communities by the federal government:

"The latte stones at Hila'an are remnants of what used to be," Calvo said in the speech. "Bring to life the illustration of those latte. They stood together on our western shores, with homes filled with Chamorros, prosperous and innovative."

In contrast, Calvo's statements using the word "Guamanian" are general references to the island's modern community as a whole, regardless of ethnicity. He also used the term "my fellow Guamanians" or "the Guamanian Dream."

For example, Calvo said: "The people of Guam want their tax refunds now. ... Paying the refunds in full, right now, will, without a doubt, solve the financial troubles of thousands of Guamanians."

Calvo also said he wanted to welcome Marines from Okinawa with "Hafa Adai, my fellow Guamanians."

Yesterday, when questioned more about his criticism, Pangelinan said he was troubled by the speech because Calvo spoke about Chamorros when he looked to the past, but spoke about Guamanians when he looked to the future.

Pangelinan said the perseverance of the Chamorro culture should have had a larger presence in the speech.

"In being all inclusive, to me it felt Chamorros were being excluded. That
really is how I felt. It's a gut reaction," Pangelinan said. "I really felt sad for the Chamorros. We just weren't relevant."

When referring to a common desire for tax refunds, it would have been more
appropriate to use "people of Guam," Pangelinan said.

The senator wasn't alone in his frustration.

Peter Onedera, a University of Guam Chamorro language professor, said he
listened to Calvo's speech on the radio, cringing every time the governor said "Guamanian."

Eventually, Onedera said he just turned the speech off, disgusted.

"In essence, the word Chamorros encompasses our indigenous roots," Onedera said. "To me the term Guamanians -- and Saipanese, Tinianese and Rotanese -- is a term that was given to us. And I would think it happened without our permission in the first place."

Not just indigenous

UOG political science professor Michael Stoil said yesterday that Calvo had no choice but to use Guamanian. Calvo governs all of Guam, not just the indigenous people, Stoil said.

"For him to replace the term and talk about the benefits of governments for Chamorros, or the need of governments to be responsive to Chamorros, that would be no different than a governor in the mainland saying that his government should be responsive to whites," Stoil said.