Benjamin Cruz
Benjamin Joseph "BJ" Franquez Cruz (born March 3, 1951) is a Chamorro lawyer, jurist, and politician who served as the Speaker of the 34th Guam Legislature from 2017 to 2018 and as Vice Speaker from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served in the Guam Legislature from 2005 to 2007 and again from 2008 to 2018. He was Chief Justice of the Guam Supreme Court from 1999 to 2001. In September 2018, Cruz was elected to serve as Public Auditor of Guam. Early life and education He was born Benjamin Joseph Franquez Cruz on , in Guam, the second child and only son of Juan Quenga Cruz ("Tanaguan") and Antonia Cruz Franquez. His father, who had just been elected Commissioner (Mayor) of Piti, was killed by Marcelo "Mar" C. Biscoe in 1956 when Cruz was five years old. In 1960, while in Guam, Cruz's mother married Vicente Cruz Guerrero ("Tico"). They resettled the whole family in California in 1962.They returned to Guam intermittently, where Cruz attended grade school at St. Francis School in Yona. He went to St. John Bosco High School in California until 1968. His bachelor's degree political science and economics was obtained