Swedish king wows Tacloban kids

By: Joey A. Gabieta - 11 years ago

King of Sweden Carl XVI Gustaf (C) salutes as he visits the Boy Scout monument in Tacloban City on January 26, 2014. AFP

TACLOBAN CITY, Philippines—Ten-year-old Jobez Timatiga was all smiles.

He could not help but feel excited and giddy after receiving a set of boy scout uniforms from King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden and shaking the hand of the monarch.

“It felt great to see the king. It was cool and his hands were so smooth,” said Timatiga, a Grade 5 pupil of San Fernando Central School in Barangay (village) Sagkahan here.

Timatiga was one of the 100 pupils who received a set of uniforms from Gustaf, the first royal to visit Eastern Visayas.

The king received a lei from Jose Amistoso, a Grade 2 pupil. “I’m proud to see the king,” he said.

Before visiting San Fernando Central School, the monarch also distributed 75 sets of boy scout uniforms in San Jose National High School in Barangay San Jose.

The uniforms consist of a T-shirt, a pair of pants, a belt and a carabao slide. Leyte province has about 28,564 members and 4,500 in Tacloban.

Local boy scout officials said the king decided to hand out uniforms to scouts here after receiving reports that many of them lost their uniforms during the typhoon.

Gustaf is the honorary chair of the World Scouting Foundation and is said to be one of the top donors of the scouting organization.

Before visiting the schools, the king of Sweden said he heard reports that many local scouts had helped the typhoon victims. “I am here in my capacity as a scout and I heard a lot about scouting in your country. I am [also] here to see the destruction and many scouts did tremendous jobs here,”Gustaf said in a press conference held inside a huge tent of the United Nations.

The king said one of the characters of a scout was the willingness to help. This, he added, emerged during the disaster. “Let us work together. I believe that’s what scouts are good at because they know how to help each other,”he said.

Security

The king, who arrived here at 9:18 a.m., was with Swedish boy scout officials Simon Hang Bock, chair of the World Organization Scout Movement, and Vice President Jejomar Binay, national president of the Boy Scouts of the Philippines.

He was welcomed by Tacloban City Mayor Alfred Romualdez and Leyte Gov. Leopoldo Petilla.

He left at 1:20 p.m. But during his four-hour visit, the Swedish monarch was secured by more than 500 police, Army and Presidential Security Guard members.

Gustaf held a 10-minute news conference before he went to San Jose National High School in Barangay San Jose. He then visited the Boy Scout Monument at the junction of Fatima District.