Pope Francis’ skullcap (encircled in green) flew again–this time in Tacloban–due to the strong winds in Leyte. Screengrab from RTVM’s YouTube account
TACLOBAN CITY, Philippines—He left this city the way he arrived in Manila on his first day in the Philippines–with a flying skullcap.
This time, it came as no surprise as Leyte has been placed under signal number 2 due to Tropical Storm “Amang” (international name: Mekkhalah).
After a two-hour motorcade from Tacloban to Palo, he arrived at the Daniel Romualdez Airport tarmac garbed in a flimsy, yellow raincoat, the same one worn by the rain-drenched survivors of Typhoon Yolanda (international name: Haiyan) who came to see him.
Upon arriving at the tarmac, he first removed his raincoat before going up the stairs. He was again wearing his usual white papal robes and the skullcap.
He first waved and smiled to the cameras. He then gave Palo Archbishop John Du a quick chat and a hug.
But the skullcap just won’t stay put. The strong winds blew away his skullcap, leaving the Pontiff’s face with his trademark benign smile.
The Pope tried to stop it from flying, but for naught. He even tried to look down on the floor for it.
The Supreme Pontiff and Archbishop Du shared a quick laughter about it before the Pope finally boarded the plane.
On Thursday, Jan. 15, Pope Francis also lost his skullcap from vagabond winds the moment he emerged from the SriLankan Airlines at the Villamor Airbase.
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