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‘Imperial couple grateful for welcome’
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Posted on Jun 28 2005
Japanese Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko expressed great appreciation for the local community’s warm welcome, mentioning in particular the schoolchildren and people who waved to them along the road, Gov. Juan N. Babauta said.
“They are very appreciative of the outpouring of welcome from the people, from everybody when they arrived and when they departed. They appreciated the people who greeted them along the road,” said Babauta, who was seated next to the empress during a luncheon gathering at Hotel Nikko Saipan yesterday.
Babauta described Michiko as “very, very pleasant and very intelligent.”
“My interaction with her…oh, my goodness, it’s hard to describe. She is very, very pleasant. She is very intelligent. And she speaks English extremely well. She speaks like an American,” said Babauta.
The governor said he is proud of the “flawless” security for the imperial visitors, commending the Department of Public Safety’s “outstanding work.”
“I do congratulate and commend the entire the enforcement force led by commissioner Sandy Tudela for their outstanding work. They did an outstanding job,” he said.
He said other local agencies were involved in the visit such as the ports police.
“In terms of security, it was flawless,” he said.
The security for the visit was led by U.S. Secret Service and Federal Bureau of Investigation agents.
