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APEC Philippines 2015

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Template:Infobox APEC summit APEC Philippines 2015 is the year-long hosting of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meetings in the Philippines, which will culminate with the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting from November 18 to 19 in Manila.[1] It marks the second time the Philippines is playing host to the APEC, having hosted the event previously in 1996.

Preparations

Preparations for APEC 2015 began with the signing of Administrative Order No. 36, s. 2012,[2] which constituted the APEC 2015 National Organizing Committee.

On 1 December 2014, President Benigno Aquino III led the APEC 2015 national launch at a dinner in Makati.[3] The official APEC 2015 logo and theme, "Building Inclusive Economies, Building a Better World", were unveiled during the event, as well as its official Facebook[4] and Twitter[5] accounts. The Philippine government allocated approximately 10 billion pesos for the hosting of the APEC meetings.[6]

As part of the security measures for the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting, the government declared 17–20 November as school holidays and 18–19 November as special non-working days in Metro Manila.[7][8][9] Manila has also banned most activities in and around Roxas Boulevard and Manila Bay, such as fishing, sailing, swimming, and walking.[10]

Following the attacks in Paris, France, both the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) have placed the red alert status during the five-day event.[11] The Philippine Army, Air Force, and Navy has deployed their land, air, and sea assets at several undisclosed positions within Metro Manila.[12]

Fashion

As part of the APEC tradition, custom-made Barong Tagalog clothing were designed for the economic leaders to wear during the "family-photo" portion of the event to showcase Philippine fashion and talent.[13]

Events

File:12th APEC Energy Ministers Meeting.jpg
Energy ministers from 22 APEC countries meet in Cebu City, Philippines on October 13, 2015 as part of APEC Philippines 2015.

Makati in Metro Manila hosted the first APEC 2015 meeting, the Informal Senior Officials' Meeting (ISOM), from 8 to 9 December 2014. Originally slated to be held in Legazpi, Albay, the meeting was transferred to Makati as storm signals were raised in the former due to Typhoon Ruby.[14] During the meeting, the Philippines' priorities for APEC 2015 meetings were approved, namely: investing in human capital development; fostering small and medium enterprises (SMEs) participation in regional and global markets; building sustainable and resilient communities; and enhancing the regional economic integration agenda.

File:APEC Ministers Responsible for Trade.jpg
Group photo of APEC Ministers Responsible for Trade during their meeting at Boracay in Aklan, Philippines on May 24, 2015.

The First Senior Officials' Meeting (SOM1) and Related Meetings were held in Clark Freeport, Angeles, Pampanga and Subic Bay, Zambales, from 26 January to 7 February 2015.[15]

The island of Boracay in Aklan hosted the Second Senior Officials' Meeting (SOM2) and Related Meetings from 9–21 May 2015[16] and the APEC Ministers Responsible for Trade (MRT) Meeting from 23–24 May.[17]

The Third Senior Officials' Meeting (SOM3) and Related Meetings were held in Cebu City from 22 August to 6 September, followed by the APEC Finance Ministers' Meeting from 10–11 September. Other ministerial meetings and events were held in various locations in the Philippines, such as Iloilo City for the Small and Medium Enterprise ministerial meeting on 21–25 September, the Senior Disaster Management Officials Forum on 22–23 September, and the High-Level Policy Dialogue on Food Security and the Blue Economy and Related Meetings from 28 September to 6 October 2015 also in Iloilo City.[18]

Economic Leaders' Meeting

The highlight of the series of meetings, the Economic Leaders' Meeting, was held at the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay, Metro Manila on 18–19 November.[19] On the evening of 18 November, President Aquino hosted a welcome dinner for the visiting economic leaders at the Mall of Asia Arena.[20]

Attendees

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos is scheduled to represent his country in an observer status in the Economic Leaders' Meeting.[21]

A week prior to the Economic Leaders' Meeting, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indonesian President Joko Widodo, both of whom had initially announced their attendance, decided not to attend in the occasion citing their attendance to address domestic issues, particularly the ongoing investigation of Metrojet Flight 9268 and the 2015 Southeast Asian haze, respectively.[22] Putin was represented by former Russian President, now Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev who was also scheduled to visit other Southeast Asian countries. Widodo was represented by his trade minister Thomas Lembong and Vice President Jusuf Kalla.[23][24]

This was the first APEC meeting for Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau since their inaugurations on 15 September 2015 and 4 November 2015, respectively.[25][26]

In addition to their attendance in the Economic Leaders' Meeting, Chilean President Michelle Bachelet and Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto were hosted state visits by President Aquino at the Malacañang Palace prior to the meeting on November 16 and 17, respectively.[27]

Criticism

Travel impact

Commuters and motorists took on social networking sites on the heavy traffic situation caused by the road closures and rerouting schemes in different Metro Manila roads in anticipation to the APEC meeting.[28][29] Palace spokesperson Edwin Lacierda apologized for the inconvenience brought about by the heavy traffic in Manila roads and asking the public for patience on the road advisories being implemented.[30]

Homeless people

Human Rights Watch has reported that the government's preparation for the APEC Leader's Summit extended to the homeless and impoverished people, including street children and vendors, who were either detained or relocated to other parts of Metro Manila.[31] The government denied such allegations of abuse and said that the actions were not only done for the APEC summit and such are part of its regular outreach program.[32]

Protests

The Bagong Alyansang Makabayan partylist conducted protests against China regarding its aggressive policy on its claim on the South China Sea and its islands, against the United States regarding what they describe as US imperialism and the Philippines–United States Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) – Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) agreements, as well as APEC itself, globalization, and poverty in the Philippines.[33][34]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ The leaders of Australia, Canada, China, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, Russia, South Korea, and the United States met there as members in both organizations, while Malaysia and Singapore were invited guests.
  2. ^ The leaders/representatives of Australia, Brunei, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, United States, and Vietnam will meet there as members in both organizations.

References

  1. ^ "2015 Events Calendar". APEC.org. Retrieved 14 October 2015.
  2. ^ "Administrative Order No. 36, s. 2012". Creating the National Organizing Council for the Philippine hosting of the 2015 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meetings, prescribing its authority and functions. Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines. Retrieved 14 October 2015.
  3. ^ "Aquino leads APEC 2015 kick-off". ABS-CBN News.com. 1 December 2014. Retrieved 14 October 2015.
  4. ^ "APEC Philippines 2015 Official Facebook Page". Retrieved 14 October 2015.
  5. ^ "APEC Philippines 2015 Official Twitter Account". Retrieved 14 October 2015.
  6. ^ "Palace defends Php10-B budget for 2015 APEC hosting". Philippines News Agency. Manila Bulletin. 13 November 2015. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
  7. ^ "Proclamation No. 1072, s. 2015". Declaring 18 and 19 November 2015 as Special (Non-Working) Days in the National Capital Region (NCR). Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines. Retrieved 14 October 2015.
  8. ^ Almeda, Luz S. "DepEd Memorandum". Conduct of make-up classes during the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting. Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines. Retrieved 14 October 2015.
  9. ^ "CHED-NCR Memorandum No. 51, s. 2015" (PDF). Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines. 18 September 2015. Retrieved 14 October 2015.
  10. ^ "Roxas Boulevard shut down due to Paris attacks - Manila official". Inquirer.net. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  11. ^ Viray, Patricia Loudres (14 November 2015). "'Red alert' raised for APEC summit following Paris shooting". The Philippine Star. Retrieved 15 November 2015.
  12. ^ Viray, Patricia Lourdes (16 November 2015). "Military deploys aircraft, warships for APEC security". The Philippine Star. Retrieved 17 November 2015.
  13. ^ "World leaders to don pineapple shirts for Philippines APEC Summit". The Guardian. November 17, 2015. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  14. ^ "Hagupit's first casualty: APEC meet in Albay". ABS-CBN News.com. Retrieved 14 October 2015.
  15. ^ Avendaño, Christine and Calleja, Niña (14 October 2015). "Senior APEC officials prepare for 'big party'". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved 14 October 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  16. ^ "PH holds APEC Senior Officials' Meetings in Boracay". Manila Bulletin. 22 May 2015. Retrieved 14 October 2015.
  17. ^ "APEC trade ministers meet on inclusive growth". Rappler.com. 24 May 2015. Retrieved 14 October 2015.
  18. ^ Pendon, Lydia C. (14 September 2015). "Drilon sees Iloilo Convention Center as prime destination". Sunstar Iloilo. Retrieved 14 October 2015.
  19. ^ Calica, Aurea (13 November 2015). "APEC organizers appeal for public cooperation". The Philippine Star. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
  20. ^ "LOOK: Kenneth Cobonpue designs chairs, tokens for APEC dinner". ABS-CBNnews.com. ABS-CBN Corporation. 12 November 2015. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
  21. ^ Sabater-Namit, Madel; Kabiling, Genalyn (10 November 2015). "Chinese President Xi coming for APEC". Manila Bulletin. Retrieved 10 November 2015.
  22. ^ "Vladimir Putin to skip APEC 2015 summit". Russia Beyond the Headlines. 13 November 2015. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
  23. ^ Adel, Rosselle (12 November 2015). "Putin, Widodo to skip APEC". Philippine Star. Retrieved 12 November 2015.
  24. ^ "Indonesian President Widodo to skip APEC Summit". CNN Philippines. November 12, 2015.
  25. ^ Jennett, Greg (13 November 2015). "Malcolm Turnbull embarks on five-nation tour, meeting 20 world leaders". ABC News. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
  26. ^ Harris, Kathleen (12 November 2015). "Justin Trudeau to push middle-class message in debut on world stage". CBC News. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
  27. ^ de Leon, Patricia (November 16, 2015). "PH, Chile sign trade and disaster preparedness deals". CNN Philippines. Retrieved November 16, 2015.
  28. ^ "#APECtado: Traffic sends Filipino commuters to Monday 'walkathon'". Philippine Star. 16 November 2015. Retrieved 17 November 2015.
  29. ^ Balagtas See, Aie (16 November 2015). "#Apectado by traffic: People turn to social media to release anger". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved 17 November 2015.
  30. ^ "Malacañang appeals for patience on APEC traffic rerouting scheme". Politiko. 17 November 2015. Retrieved 18 November 2015.
  31. ^ "Philippines mass arrests APEC Summit". November 11, 2015.
  32. ^ Orendain, Simone (16 November 2015). "Manila Clears the Streets Ahead of APEC Summit". Voice of America. Retrieved 17 November 2015.
  33. ^ "Filipino protesters take streets against APEC Summit". NBC News. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  34. ^ http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2015/11/16/world/asia/ap-as-apec-the-latest.html
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Preceded by APEC meetings
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