LibDay opening finally pushes through

Saipan Mayor David M. Apatang blows the conch shell initiating the call to gather like what the ancient Chamorros used to do. Apatang blew the conch shell to commence the 2017 Liberation Day festivities. (Kimberly A. Bautista)

The 2017 Liberation Day grand opening finally pushed through last Tuesday despite threatening weather conditions and following several failed attempts.

The Liberation Day opening was originally set for last Saturday, June 24, but was rescheduled because of harsh winds and heavy rain.

After several attempts to conduct the opening ceremony, Mother Nature finally cooperated with the festivities Tuesday.

The weather threatened to push back the ceremony again as it started to rain at around 5:30pm, 30 minutes before the scheduled start of the ceremony.

The rain finally slowed down to a trickle at around 6:15pm and completely stopped at around 6:20pm. The committee then pushed through with the ceremony with the weather thankfully cooperating.

Saipan Mayor David M. Aptang also announced that the Liberation Day festivities will be extended to July 8.

The original plan was to end the festivities on July 4, ending it with the parade but because of the weather conditions, vendors were not able to maximize their revenue and actually lost more than they gained.

Because of the circumstances, Apatang decided to extend the festivities another four days.

The grand opening Tuesday night was highlighted by the introduction of the 2017 Liberation Day Royal Court candidates and the introduction of the 2017 Liberation Day committee, which organized this year’s event.

The Liberation Day Royal Court was presented to the public as they paraded the stage in their sashes and gowns. The candidates each shared with the audience what bird they would be representing.

Mikeangela Charfuros is representing the Tinian monarch or Chichirikan, Mikaella Dahil is representing the white tern or Chunge’, Chloe Fergurgur is representing the kingfisher or Sihek, Peyton Gomez is representing the Rota bridled white eye or Nosa, Kaila De Guzman is representing the Saipan golden white eye or Canario, Maxine Lopez is representing the white-throated ground dove or Paluman Apaka’, Riannalyn Manabat is representing the Mariana swiftlet or Chachaguakm, and Carlicia Ruben is representing the rufus fantail or Na’abak.

During his speech, Apatang also acknowledged how honored he was to be working with the newly appointed Liberation Day committee.

“I am joined by a new team this year and I am honored to be collaborating with an awesome team,” said Apatang. “They are young, very energetic, and very precocious.”

During the grand opening ceremony, Apatang also blew on a conch shell that represents a gathering call.

This type of gathering call was done during ancient Chamorro times and was usually done by the chief of the village.

Because Apatang is the mayor of the island of Saipan, it was only fitting that he was chosen to initiate the gathering call commencing the Liberation Day festivities.