Liberation Royal Court thankful for successful event

The 2016 CNMI Liberation Royal Court poses with fellow contest participants, organizers, sponsors, Saipan, Tinian, and Rota mayors and officials after the declaration of winners last June 2 at the Liberation Day Festival grounds. (Jon Perez)

This is the first year in which the CNMI Liberation Royal Court had the highest amount of participating candidates and full representation of the CNMI archipelago. On July 1, 21 candidates were crowned Princess, First Princess, Royal Princess, and Queen.

This year’s Fourth of July parade lineup consisted of a variety of floats, and entering last, was the CNMI Liberation Royal Court float that was provided by the Best Sunshine International, Ltd.

“Although the effort put into making the float was greatly appreciated and the beauty of the float was admired by the CNMI Liberation Royal Court, we, as a whole, decided to walk down 13 Fishermen Memorial to pay our respects” explained Royal Queen Christine Roque.

“After standing on the float for hours, waving to the crowd, we all wanted to walk down to see our people on an eye-to-eye level and to show our humility” said Princess Beda Mundo. “We asked Ms. Rose Ada-Hocog, since the beginning of the parade if we could walk on the last part of the parade and our request was granted”.

But it is not the first time the CNMI Liberation Queen and her Royal Court had stepped down the float and walked to the ending part of the parade. From as far back as 2004, the CNMI Liberation Royal Courts had also walked from the 13 Fishermen Memorial to the reviewing stand. Even the 2015 Liberation Queen and her Royal Court paid tribute to the 13 Fishermen Memorial and chose to walk from the memorial to the grandstand.

“As a result of our actions, family members and other people from the community approached the Royal Court to hug or take pictures with them while they were walking together. One of the Princess’ fathers came out and danced on the road alongside us as we were walking,” said Roque.

“It was a memorable moment as we all walked in a line, symbolizing that our islands and communities were represented and that we are all one. We proudly represented our islands and our heritage”, said Mundo.

The 2016 Miss CNMI Liberation Queen, Christine Roque, stated, “I would like to thank the entire community on behalf of the 2016 Royal Court for their utmost gratitude and support as we all entered this journey together. The Liberation Festivities would not have been a success without the participation of the entire CNMI community. A huge thank you from the bottom of our hearts!”

In addition, the 2016 Royal Court would like to thank the JROTC cadets who had been their escorts during the parade. They showed great discipline and hospitality.

The 2016 Royal Court would most especially like to thank the Royal Court’s biggest sponsor, IT&E, Saipan Mayor David Apatang, Skywalker Communications Group, Ms. Rose Ada-Hocog and her two boys, Tito and Trey, the Liberation Day Organizing Committee, the Royal Court’s individual sponsors, and all the event sponsors for making the parade a success.