Tacloban preparing for first royal visit of king of Sweden

TACLOBAN CITY—This city is preparing for a king’s visit in the middle of efforts to help city residents, who lost homes and sources of livelihood to Super Typhoon “Yolanda,” get back on their feet.

Security preparations are being put in place for the arrival of King Carl VXI Gustaf of Sweden, who is scheduled to arrive here on Sunday.

“He is a king so it is expected that the security would be tight,” Chief Supt. Henry Losañes said.

Losañes told the Inquirer that all routes and places of engagements of the king would be teeming with both uniformed and undercover law enforcers. Members of the Presidential Security Group (PSG) are being tapped, too, for security.

The king is scheduled to visit two schools—San Jose National High School and San Fernando Central School—that serve as evacuation centers to meet with local boy scouts who might be there.

Antonio Cinco, head of the Boy Scouts of the Philippines in Leyte, said King Gustaf would arrive at Daniel Z. Romualdez Airport past 9 a.m. from a royal plane, accompanied by 20 people including Vice President Jejomar Binay, national president of the Boy Scouts of the Philippines.

“He is not coming in as the king of Sweden but as the secretary general of the World Organization Scouting Movement. But still, this [excites us] as this will be the first time that we will have a king as a visitor,” Cinco said.

Sweden is among more than 30 countries helping areas devastated by Yolanda.

The king will be the latest among high-profile and internationally known personalities to visit Tacloban, considered to be Ground Zero of Yolanda.

Among those who had visited Tacloban were United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, United States Secretary of State John Kerry and Foreign Affairs Minister Borge Brende of Norway (Sweden’s neighbor).

International pop idol Justin Bieber also made a short visit to Tacloban.