Covenant negotiator keynotes naturalization ceremony

Covenant negotiator keynotes naturalization ceremony

Vicente N. Santos, the former vice chairman of the Marianas Political Status Commission that negotiated the Covenant with the U.S. government, was the keynote speaker at Friday’s naturalization ceremony in federal court.
Santos congratulated the 13 who became the newest citizens of the U.S. political family.

“I know the difficult road you have taken to obtain citizenship by naturalization. The years of preparation and waiting have finally concluded today,” said Santos at the ceremony that also honored the 38th year of the signing of the Covenant, the document that made the Northern Marianas a part of the U.S. and made its residents U.S. citizens.

Present at the ceremony were CNMI Chief Justice Alexandro Castro, Delegate Gregorio Kilili C. Sablan (Ind-MP), Senate President Ralph Torres (R-Saipan), and many other lawmakers and government leaders.

Santos shared that four years after the complete devastation of Saipan in World War II, it became apparent that the Northern Marianas people desired to become part of the American political family.

Santos said that subsequent to 1948, a move to request the administering authority to unite Guam and Saipan received a resounding approval from the people.

A special election was then held to ask the CNMI’s people if they want to become part of Guam and become U.S. citizens. Majority of the CNMI people voted to reunite with Guam but Guam, however, had a very low turnout.

“That [unification vote] failed,” said Santos.

Their next option then was “to shift gears on full speed” with the administering authority.

At this time, he said, the Micronesian Status Commission was with Ambassador F. Haydn Williams in Palau to discuss, among other things, the request of the Marianas for a separate status negotiation with the U.S. He said Williams responded affirmatively to enter negotiations with the representatives of the Northern Marianas in April 1972.

Santos said the people of the Northern Marianas became U.S. citizens by virtue of the Covenant in political union with the U.S.A.

“We went to bed on the evening of Nov. 2nd, 1986, and when we awoke the morning of Nov. 3, 1986, we became U.S. citizens,” he said.

Santos told the 13 newest U.S. citizens that their becoming a U.S. citizen coincides with a very unique celebration, the Covenant, a self-governing Commonwealth in political union with the U.S.

Santos said the word Covenant translates the idea of a serious and solemn agreement between two parties.

Santos cited the story of Noah and the Ark that ends with God’s agreement that he will never again destroy the Earth by water. He said the sign of that Covenant is the rainbow.

“The Covenant expects our government and the people to respond to its provision with faith and obedience. This is our part of the agreement, or the Covenant,” he pointed out. “Without our free response and adherence to it, the Covenant doesn’t work.”

U.S. District Court for the NMI Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona administered the oath to the 13 new U.S. citizens.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services officer Diane Zedde presented to the court the 13 petitioners, who are from the Philippines, Pohnpei, Mongolia, and Thailand.

Werner Martin told Saipan Tribune shortly after the ceremony that he is glad and thankful that he is now a U.S. citizen. Martin first came to Saipan in 1991 and worked at DFS as a stocker. He currently works as one of the crew of a sunset cruise firm. Martin served as a specialist with the U.S. Army from 2004 to 2007 and had a tour of duty in Iraq.

Cecilia Ho Lifoifoi, 56, originally from the Philippines, said she is very happy as she is now a citizen of a great nation.

Lifoifoi said she told her husband the night before that she’s very lonely over the passing of her mother on March 11. She said her husband, former lawmaker and now Commonwealth Ports Authority board chair Jose Lifoifoi, told her that she will be very happy on Friday because of her citizenship.

Cecilia Lifoifoi said she cried when she received her certificate of citizenship. She said off-island travel would now be easier as she does not need to undergo fingerprinting, among other procedures.

Munkhchimeg Tsegmed Murdock, 37, of Mongolia, said she’s very happy and excited that she’s now a U.S. citizen. She first arrived on Saipan in 2005 and married a retired U.S. government employee.

The 10 other new citizens are Hannah Jacinto Schorr (wife of former U.S. Office of Insular Affairs field representative to the CNMI Jeff Schorr), Rossana Ronquillo Aquino, Lynn Yorong Atalig, Leonor Fule Ayuyu, Sirilak Blake, Luisito Mercado Fajardo, Desiree Jane Caroline Austria Guerzon, Maria Alma Bungay Kapileo, Niyanina Reyes Ross, and Hector Dela Cruz Sablan.