The Queen Is Coming To Manila(Not The Rock Group)

[Call me bubba]

Queen Sofia of Spain will be in the Philippines next week. :th_interesting:

MANILA - The Department of Foreign Affairs announced on Wednesday that Her Majesty Queen Sofia of the Kingdom of Spain will undertake a four-day visit to the Philippines as an official guest of the government.

The Queen is due to arrive in Manila on July 2 to personally inspect various development cooperation projects that are being implemented with funding assistance from the Spanish government through its development cooperation agency, Agencia Española de Cooperación Internacional para el Desarollo or AECID.

“The upcoming visit of Queen Sofia is a reaffirmation of Spain’s commitment towardaddressing the myriad developments and challenges the Philippines and the rest of the world are facing today,” the department said in an advisory.

“It is a positive reflection of the Philippines’ long-standing and special partnership with Spain, most especially in the area of development cooperation,” the department added.

It will be Sofia’s third visit to the Philippines.

In 2011, the Spanish government’s official development assistance to the Philippines amounted to a total of 28.9 million Euros in grants and loans. The implemented programs and projects are aligned with the development priorities of the Aquino administration particularly in the areas of democratic governance and citizen’s participation, basic social needs, environment, culture and development, gender and development, and the prevention of conflict and peace-building.

Queen Sofia will visit AECID-assisted projects in Manila and in the provinces, as well as meet with officials of implementing agencies and beneficiary sectors. Aside from these activities, her official program includes a visit to the National Library, the National Museum, and the University of Santo Tomas (UST).

Capping her visit will be a private audience in Malacañang with President Benigno S. Aquino III, which will be followed by a banquet hosted by the President in honor of Queen Sofia and her delegation.

The Spanish community in the country, said to number some 3,500 residents, will also have an opportunity to see and met their queen at a reception to be hosted by the Spanish Ambassador, Spanish officials, and staff.

Philippines-Spain relations have steadily grown through the years marked by sustained cooperation in the fields of education, culture, sports, agriculture and fisheries,

tourism, energy, health, labor, social security, defense and mutual legal assistance, among others.

In 2011, Spain ranked as the Philippines’ 28^th largest trading partner with total bilateral trade amounting to $329.6 million.

Queen Sofia will be accompanied during her visit by Spain's Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Jesus Gracia Aldaz, Chief of Secretariat of the Royal Household of Her Majesty General Jose Cabrera Garcia, and other high-ranking officials from the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

http://www.tribune.net.ph/index.php/headlines/item/832-queen-sofia-of-spain-on-a-5-day-rp-visit-to-inspect-aecid-projects

http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/363731/queen-sofia-to-visit-philippines

[Ashanti]

hmmmm .............. interesting ............... i thought Spain had requested bailout from the Euro ...............

must be be rich again to play lady bountiful ............. :mocking:

[jamesmusslewhite]

Queen Who?

[i am bob]

I don't care what name she goes by - she does not sound like Freddie Mercury at all!

[Ashanti]

Queen Who?

quite right…………..

there's is only one Queen ……………… Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, The Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, The Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Antigua and Barbuda, Belize and St Kitts and Nevis.

:dance: