Swaziland's king to grace Cebu's 440th founding rites

CEBU, Philippines - Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia will receive King Mswati III of the Kingdom of Swaziland, who is arriving tomorrow morning for a four-day visit and to attend the 440th founding anniversary of the province.

The Swazi king will be coming together with an entourage of close to 100 members of the royal family including his children and spouses as well as several cabinet members and businessmen.

Garcia will host a dinner on Thursday in honor of the visiting monarch, the second among the 67 children of the late King Sobhuza II, at the Marco Polo Plaza Hotel.

Last year, Garcia went to Swaziland to grace the nation’s 40th anniversary as an independent state.

The Philippines and Swaziland – a kingdom of 1.2 million people – have maintained close diplomatic ties through the years and have cooperated in the multilateral arena.

Yesterday, the Provincial Government officially kicked off the month-long celebration of its 440th founding anniversary, with the theme “Cebu is one at 440.”

Mayors from the component cities and municipalities joined Gov. Garcia, Vice Gov. Gregorio Sanchez and Provincial Board Members in the flag raising ceremonies at the Capitol grounds.

After the flag raising an agro-fair was formally opened and it was followed by the launching of the next season of the Gov. Gwen Garcia Unity Volleyball (GUV) Cup, the horse show competition and airsoft competition.

In her speech at the Capitol Social Hall, Garcia recalled how she was struck by the “exemplarity of the story our Province and the story of my administration.”

Garcia recalled that when she was first elected as Cebu’s first woman governor, there was a divided province as well as provincial board.

Those who wanted to divide the province, she said, “I chose not to listen because there are a lot of work to be done.

 “There were challenges to divide the province, political ramblings and alliances. But we moved on and moved forward,” Garcia said. — Garry B. Lao/NLQ   (THE FREEMAN)