Swedish king honors scouts killed in Yolanda

TACLOBAN CITY, Philippines  â€“ King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden arrived in this city on Sunday to pay tribute to the members of the Boy Scouts of the Philippines (BSP) killed during Super Typhoon Yolanda last year.

The Swedish monarch, who heads the World Scout Movement, was accompanied by Vice President Jejomar Binay, who is the national president of BSP, and other dignitaries.

Gustaf led the distribution of uniforms to 75 senior and 100 boy scouts at the San Jose National High School and the San Fernando Elementary School, respectively.

After the distribution, the king and his party went to the Boy Scout Rotunda, where the Philippine and Swedish flags were hoisted, along with the banners of the United Nations and the World Scouting Foundation.

A minute of silence was observed during the event to pray for the late scouts.

The king was welcomed by Gov. Dominic Petilla, Tacloban Mayor Alfred Romualdez, Department of Education regional director Luisa Yu, Philippine Information Agency director Olive Tiu and the Jesper Lund, head of the United Nations-Office of Coordinating Humanitarian Assistance in Tacloban.

Binay said 276 boy scouts and 18 volunteer teachers died during the typhoon last November.

Gustaf earlier said he is a lifetime supporter of the scouting movement. He accepted the role as honorary chairman of the World Scouting Foundation in 1977 and has since been leading the WSF in raising funds to support scouting projects worldwide.

He inspected the city’s Boy Scout building to see the extent of damage it sustained and visited Anibong, where four ships were pushed inland during the storm.

Karina Rosa Tiopes, tourism department regional director, presented the king with a painting of the Curacha, a courtship dance called “Waray-Waray” in Tacloban and Samar, by local artist Dante Enage.

After lunch, Gustaf and his delegation were shown Leyte’s historical landmarks, among them the Scout in Motion monument at the government center in Palo, Leyte and the Leyte Landing.       

Before leaving, the king promised to continue supporting programs for the boy scouts, particularly in Leyte.

Sweden was among the first countries to send assistance to Tacloban and other Yolanda-stricken areas.