Yt Framework

Queen Sofia of Spain visited yesterday several sites in the city, including the Spanish government-funded housing projects, school, hospital and the Fort Pilar Shrine and the National Museum.

Queen Sofia arrived at the Edwin Andrews Air Base on board a Fokker plane owned by the Republic of the Philippines at 9:15 a.m. Thursday. She was welcomed by Mayor Celso Lobregat and several top local government officials.

The queen’s convoy proceeded to the Kalinaw and Katilingban Housing Projects in Barangay Sinunuc, which is funded by Spain through the Agencia Española de Cooperacion Internacional para el Desarollo (AECID), and co-managed by a Spanish and several local non-government organizations.

The housing projects house over 600 families. The Spanish government was also able to finance the construction of the P4 million building for the Akay Kalinga and a Pangarap Center for Youth.

The queen's next stop was the Claret School where she met the students and street children who are under the care of the Akay Kalinga.

She and her entourage also briefly visited the Zamboanga City Medical Center where Spain also had some funded projects.

She then had lunch with local officials before touring the Fort Pilar Shrine and the National Museum.

As of posting, Queen Sofia also visited the Don Pablo Lorenzo Memorial High School, the pilot school for the re-introduction of the Spanish language in the Philippine Education System.

AECID also funded the construction of the speech laboratory, which is now being used by students taking Spanish language.

The Queen of Spain left for Manila at 4:50 p.m. yesterday as security was tight in the whole city for her historical visit of the queen.