SSHS freshman wins ‘Ties That Bind’ essay tilt

A Saipan Southern High School freshman garnered top honors in the “Ties That Bind” essay contest that explored the historical and contemporary relationship of the CNMI, the Philippines, and the United States.

Anne Mariel M. Flores, 15, won first place honors in the contest and got the chance to read aloud her essay during last Sunday’s Philippine Independence Day flag-raising ceremony.

Her victory also won her a round-trip ticket for two to the Philippines where she will get the chance to tour the Malacañang Palace and other places of interest in Manila. A possible face-to-face meeting with Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is also in the works.

Flores is the daughter of Oscar and Marikita Flores, who hail from Pangasinan and Tarlac provinces in the Philippines.

Second place winner was ninth grader Kevin Bautista, who got $300 cash prize, while tenth grader Hazel Marie Doctor won third spot for $200. Both are students of Mount Carmel School.

Sponsored by the NMI Council for Humanities and the Philippine Consulate General, the contest required students to describe the historical and contemporary connections that bind the CNMI, U.S. and the Philippines in 1,500 words or less. It was held as part of celebrations for the 110th Independence Day of the Philippines, which is being observed today, June 12.

Essays were scored by a panel of judges who will consider content and logic, vocabulary and grammar. The judges included Council’s Program Director Scott Russell, Council’s former executive director William Barrino, and Dr. Emmanuel Lleva.

The main thing that stood out in Flores’ essay, according to Russell, “was the fact that she made the pre-Spanish connections between the Marianas and the Philippines. She was the only essayist that picked up those connections that go back thousands of years.”

Flores said that as she was doing her research for this year’s Philippine Independence Day essay contest, she learned a great deal of information by asking her elders and reading history books.

However, “the questions of skin color, similarities of names, customs, and traditions are just the basic questions that could not be answered by reading history books,” Flores said. And that “answers to questions relating to controversial issues such as federalization, land alienation, and abuse of guest workers could go further beyond that point.”

Flores said answers are not exactly found by “merely reading history books but by understanding and accepting the fact that the ties that bind these countries are still very much intact today.”

The incoming sophomore said that the community cannot ignore or erase the bond that ties them together, “because it is a part of history written not by ink alone but by the blood of our forefathers.”

“There is no need for a Dekada Movement, Taotao Tano Movement, Human Dignity Movement, Unity Movement and the likes, if only each one understands that this bond makes us brothers belonging to just one family,” Flores emphasized.

According to Consul General Wilfredo DL Maximo, “the contest provided an excellent opportunity to explore and reaffirm the depths of the historic ties that have long existed between the CNMI, the United States, and the Philippines.”

Russell said that overall, “the students did very well.”

Council board member Gaskins said the committee hopes to encourage more activities in succeeding years that would allow the youth to connect with their historical and ancestral ties.