Murdered Fil-Am Marine laid to rest in CNMI

ROTA — Hundreds of people waited at the airport Wednesday to give a hero’s welcome to a Filipino-American Marine allegedly killed by a fellow soldier in Afghanistan. U.S. Marine Corporal Dave Michael Maliksi Santos, who grew up in his mother’s hometown of Bacoor, Cavite in the Philippines, was laid to rest on Thursday in his birthplace — Rota in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). On July 15, he was allegedly stabbed in the neck by a fellow Marine in Marjeh, Helmand Province in Afghanistan, where he was deployed as part of Operation Enduring Freedom. His mother, Charito Maliksi-Runge, told GMANews.TV, “It’s hard for me to accept he’s gone. Kahit sino namang nanay mahihirapang tanggapin na wala na ang anak nila (Every mother couldn't easily accept the loss of a child). I will miss him." Santos left behind a 20-year-old wife, Lotty Ann Santos, and a three-year-old son.

Charito Malikisi-Runge is almost hysterical as the casket of her son, the late US Marine Corporal Dave Michael M. Santos, is being laid down to the grave Thursday in his birthplace of Rota in the US Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Santos grew up in his mother’s hometown of Bacoor, Cavite. Haidee V. Eugenio

His father, David Santos, said believing that his son is now in Heaven gives him comfort. The father wants to meet the Marine who allegedly killed his son to ask him why he did it. “I want closure. Like I said earlier, I don’t have any hatred, I just want to know the truth, I want to see and talk to the person who killed my son and ask him why he did it," he said in an interview. The father said seeing the arrival of his son’s body brings back memories of his nephew’s arrival on Rota in 2007, also in a casket. His nephew died of injuries from an improvised explosive device that blew up near their vehicle in Baghdad, Iraq where he was deployed as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom. CNMI officials, including acting Governor Eloy Inos, members of the Senate and House of Representatives and former Lt. Governor Jesse Borja, flew in from the CNMI capital of Saipan to attend the funeral. Rota Mayor Melchor Mendiola said in a small island like Rota where the population is only about 3,000, the loss of one child is much felt. He said the circumstances surrounding the Marine’s death add to the pain and sense of loss felt by the community. Ruth Coleman, the governor’s special assistant for military and veterans affairs, said military personnel “left home to serve the country, and they will always come back as heroes." –VVP, GMANews.TV