Spanish king to visit Manila

Spanish king to visit Manila

MANILA (Reuter): King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia of Spain are
to visit the former Spanish colony of the Philippines next year
as a "gesture of reconciliation and goodwill," President Fidel
Ramos said yesterday.

Ramos said in a statement the visit and Spain's participation
in the 1998 centenary marking the end of Spanish rule was
significant. No date was given for the visit.

The United States, at war with Spain, helped Filipino
revolutionaries end more than 300 years of Spanish rule and then
annexed the country for itself. The Philippines finally won its
independence in 1946.