Remains of Fil-Am slain in Iraq to arrive tomorrow

The remains of the Filipina-American soldier who was killed in an insurgent attack while on patrol in Iraq will arrive in Manila tomorrow, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said yesterday.

The Philippine consulate general in Honolulu, Hawaii reported to the DFA that the remains of Army Sgt. Myla Maravillosa will arrive at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) at 9:40 p.m. from Honolulu on Continental Airlines flight CO 1.

Maravillosa’s remains will be brought to Tagbilaran City, Bohol on Sunday aboard Philippine Airlines flight PR 175.

Acting Head of the Philippine Consulate General in Honolulu Irene Susan Natividad said Maravillosa’s remains will be accompanied to Manila and Bohol by her mother Estelita and relatives.

The Consulate arranged the family’s flight to Manila upon the request of their relative when the US Army was not able to book all the four family members on the same fight.

The US Department of Defense has arranged the funeral requirements for Maravillosa who was a US citizen.

Maravillosa, who was assigned to the US Army Reserve 203rd Military Intelligence Battalion, died from injuries sustained in Al Hawijah, Iraq, when Iraqi insurgents fired a rocket-propelled grenade at US soldiers while on a routine patrol last Dec. 24.

Officer-in-Charge Joel Nunag, of the Philippine Embassy in Baghdad, said Maravillosa, a native of Inabanga, Bohol, was a resident of Wahiawa, Hawaii at the time of her death.

She arrived in the US as a 16-year-old in 1997 and volunteered for the armed services in 1999 after graduating from high school. She became a member of the military intelligence unit four years later.

Myla was planning to attend Hawaii Pacific University this year, but was deployed to Iraq on Nov. 20.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo instructed the Philippine Consulate General in Honolulu, Hawaii to convey his condolences to Maravillosa’s family in Wahiawa. — Pia Lee Brago