Noy inspects APEC venues

MANILA, Philippines – President Aquino sought yesterday the fine-tuning of preparations for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit after inspecting the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) in Pasay City and other venues of the meetings of world leaders on Nov. 18 and 19.

Aquino visited the Mall of Asia Arena, also in Pasay, where a welcome dinner for member-economies would be held, according to Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr.

The presidential party also went to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminals 1, 2 and 3 where APEC delegates would arrive and depart, and Kalayaan hangar in Villamor Air Base, also in Pasay City, he added.

Leading the Cabinet members was Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr., APEC-National Organizing Council chairman, Coloma said.

Coloma was one of the Cabinet members who accompanied Aquino during the inspection tour.

APEC-NOC director general Marciano Paynor Jr. said the government was 95 to 97 percent ready to host the summit and could only declare they were 100 percent prepared after the meetings take place.

The country would not match the pomp of wealthy countries in hosting an APEC summit but would “portray the Philippines as a young, vibrant, intelligent, innovative but above all, hospitable people,” he added.

Security was the biggest challenge for them as he sought understanding and cooperation from the public to make the APEC successful, Paynor said during Monday’s briefing.

Some leaders might have “rock star” quality or popular than the others, but that the level of security would be utmost for each and everyone of them, he added.

He appealed to those planning to hold protest actions to put things in proper context and perspective to avoid embarrassing the foreign guests when they could hold the rallies in a peaceful manner.

Protesters need not be near the venues to send their message across because people would know the merits of what they were fighting for even if they would hold their protest actions in areas like the Quezon Memorial Circle, Paynor said.

Profiling of passengers

As early as three weeks ago, the Coast Guard has been profiling passengers bound for Manila, according to Commodore Joel Garcia, Task Force on Maritime Security for the APEC chief.

“We have alerted all the PCG stations nationwide, particularly in the Visayas and in Mindanao, to be on the lookout for possible threats or suspicious looking persons going to Manila,” he said.

“We have what we call profiling of passengers. We started conducting the profiling as early as three weeks ago as part of the preparations.”

All passengers boarding ships bound for Manila would have their pictures and videos taken as a precaution, Garcia said.

The Coast Guard would be monitoring vessels coming into Manila Bay, which would be near the PICC, he added.

Vessels coming in through the north side or south side of Corregidor island would be monitored through the Vessel Traffic Monitoring System, which the Coast Guard jointly operates with the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA), Garcia said.

Floating assets would be used to intervene in case a vessel insists on entering Manila Bay without identifying itself, he added. – With Evelyn Macairan, Mike Frialde, Cecille Suerte Felipe