Swaziland’s king misses Chocolate Hills, tarsiers

The visiting royal family of the Kingdom of Swaziland has cancelled its trip to Bohol today after learning that the airport there could not accommodate its private plane for landing.

His Majesty King Mswati III and his entourage are supposed to see the famous Chocolate Hills and tarsiers, and to have lunch at the popular floating restaurant of Loboc River.

Felizwe Dlamini, deputy principal chief of protocol, said the airport in Bohol is too small for landing for the king’s huge private plane, which needs at least a 2-mile runway. The Bohol airport has only a mile-long runway.

The king of Swaziland had just wrapped up his visit to Cebu and, with the cancellation of the Bohol trip, he and his entourage of 30 are set to fly to Metro Manila, where they are expected to visit a call center in Laguna and the University of the Philippines in Diliman, and to Malacañang Palace to meet President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Arroyo and King Mswati will be signing several economic agreements before having a state dinner, which is usually tendered to visiting heads of state. The king will later proceed to Japan by tomorrow.

King Mswati was happy and satisfied with the hospitality of the Cebuanos and Cebuano officials during his past 2-day visit to Cebu the other day. The royal couple is even expected to be back in Cebu this August for the province’s charter day celebration.

The king said their visit to Cebu was fantastic and he already accepted the invitation of Governor Gwendolyn Garcia to be back in this “great province” in August.

“We are so pleased that we started our state visit in Cebu and we thanked the governor and the people of their warm welcome and hospitality. Hope we will know each other more and established good contact. We can assure you that this will not be our first and last visit,” King Mswati spoke at the luncheon tendered by the provincial government at the Shangri-La Hotel in Lapulapu City.

King Mswati said he is already excited, this early, to see the colorful events (of the charter day celebration), which will showcase the history and culture of Cebu. He admitted of “feeling at home” in Cebu already, and lauded the cultural dances performed by various dance groups of the province.

He said Cebuanos do not fail to look back at its past as it continues to progress.  “As we continue towards modernity, we should not lose the foresight of our past as well as our culture because these are important things in history,” the 40-year-old monarch said.

King Mswati is accompanied by this 13th wife, Her Royal Highness Inkhosikati Lankambule, and their one-year-old daughter, Princess Buhlebetive. Mswati’s sister, Princess Msinduose and brother, Prince Lonkhenkela, were also part of the entourage.

After lunch, they visited a furniture company in Lapu-Lapu City, then the famous and historical Magellan’s Cross in Cebu City, where they were warmly welcomed by Mayor Tomas Osmeña.

Phiwayinkosi Ginindza, chief executive officer of Swaziland Investment Promotion Authority, said the Swaziland government is more interested in the Philippine’s textile and garments industry, and the call center and sugar industries. — Mitchelle L. Palaubsanon/RAE