Manila ‘rescues’ 206 street dwellers before APEC

MANILA, Philippines - Manila’s social welfare office “rescued” 65 street dwellers from Nov. 10 to 11, bringing to 206 the total number of street dwellers the city government has taken into custody during the runup to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.

Twenty-five of the 65 street dwellers were not from Manila. These 25 were fed and subjected to a medical checkup before being brought to the Jose Fabella Center, a transients’ home in Mandaluyong.

They joined the first batch of 18 street dwellers sent to the home by Manila’s social welfare office. These 18 street dwellers were among the 141 taken into custody on Nov. 9.

The city government earlier said the operation started six months ago and was not intended to hide the street dwellers during the APEC summit.

The operation will be suspended during the summit and will resume on Nov. 25, the city government said.

Skeleton force in courts

Courts in Metro Manila will be closed next week during the APEC summit, but will keep skeleton forces, the Supreme Court (SC) said yesterday.

In an advisory, the SC said work in the high tribunal would be suspended on Nov. 16, except for the offices of the justices and the clerk of court because of the session to be held for the resolution of the case involving Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement.

On the same day, work at the Court of Appeals and the first and second-level courts in the cities of Manila and Makati would also be suspended, but they would maintain a skeleton force for the purpose of receiving emergency filings.

From Tuesday to Friday, work will be suspended in all courts in the National Capital Judicial Region “except that the respective presiding justices of the Sandiganbayan and the Court of Tax Appeals shall maintain a skeletal force for the purpose of attending to urgent matters, (such as) returns of warrants of arrest.”

Taft Avenue in Pasay cleared

Pasay police officers – backed up by enforcers from the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority and the Pasay Mayor’s Total Clean Team – cleared a kilometer-long stretch of Taft Avenue occupied by more than 2,000 illegal vendors, an official said yesterday.

Senior Superintendent Joel Doria said the clearing operation is part of the preparation for the APEC summit.

They also cleared the area near the Baclaran church.

Earlier reports said illegal vendors have reportedly been paying P1 million a day to occupy most of the lanes along a one-kilometer segment of Taft Avenue.

Mandaluyong ‘force multipliers’

The Mandaluyong City government will tap barangay officials and city hall employees as “force multipliers” to secure the APEC summit, Mayor Benhur Abalos said yesterday.

He noted that some of the delegates will be billeted at the EDSA Shangri-La Hotel and that EDSA-Shaw Boulevard will be the start of the route allotted for delegates going to the venues of the summit, the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay and the Mall of Asia Arena. – Jose Rodel Clapano, Edu Punay, Perseus Echeminada, Non Alquitran