Personal Life
Born on November 27, 1945, and raised in a Satawalese family, Fitial graduated with honors from Saipan's Mt. Carmel High School in 1964. He obatined a Bachelor of Business Administration with an emphasis on business management from the University of Guam. He is recognized as a University of Guam Distinguished Alumni.
Fitial is the first elected governor of Carolinian descent in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). Carolinians are indigenous to the Caroline Islands, and the ancestors of most Carolinians now living in the northern Mariana Islands immigrated there in the early 19th century, from the Yap and Chuuk island groups of what is now the Federated States of Micronesia. The Chamoru are the indigenous inhabitants of the Marianas, and past winners of gubernatorial elections in the CNMI had been Chamoru.
The Governor is married to Josie Fitial (née Padiermos), a Filipino who as a contract worker in 1983 moved to the CNMI, where filipinos outnumber residents of all Pacific Islander ethnicities combined. Padiermos, like many filipinos, moved abroad for employment to send financial support to family members still in the Philippines. The couple met while she was working as a waitress on Saipan. They have two children together, Patrick and Christina, in addition to Benigno Fitial's four children from a previous marriage, Jason, Cathy, Junella and Julie.
Fitial has described himself in the past as a "good friend" of convicted US Lobbyist Jack Abramoff, which has caused some controversy in both the Commonwealth and Washington. As vice president of Tan Holdings, Fitial worked closely with Abramoff, who was a consistent client of the family textile conglomerate.
Fitial and his wife are residents of the Gualo Rai, Saipan.
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