“Make them experience Cebu’s best.”
That was the goal presented to officials of the provincial government by the national organizing committee for this year’s Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit 2015.
“We are just observing their hosting and asking the national organizing committee what they expect from us,” Provincial Information Officer Ethel Natera told reporters before she and other provincial government officials went to Boracay last Friday.
They will be in Boracy until tomorrow as part of the province’s preparations for hosting some APEC meetings.
APEC venues include Legazpi, Clark, Bagac, Iloilo, Boracay, Bacolod, Tagaytay, Cebu, and Manila.
Experience
Cebu will host two senior officials’ meetings, as well as the structural reform, finance, transportation, and energy ministerial meetings from August to October this year.
Natera said provincial government representatives met with APEC-national organizing committee General Director Marciano Paynor and Deputy Director General for Conference Management Angie Sta. Catalina.
“One thing the officials told us is that we should give a lot of focus on what Cebu is all about—food, culture and heritage, places to go, products, investment opportunities, people, etc. We make them experience the best of Cebu,” she said.
She said this will help delegates remember their experience and convince them to visit Cebu again.
Accompanying Natera in the trip to Boracay were Provincial Tourism Officer Mary Grace Paulino, Asst. Provincial Administrator Ramil Abing, and Lito Maderazo, the governor’s designated overall APEC coordinator for Cebu.
Delegates
Natera serves as the head of the local media sub-committee; Paulino is overseeing the local committee on conference management, while lawyer Abing is in charge of operations.
Natera said the local organizing committee is asking the cooperation of all Cebu residents.
“The success of the APEC in Cebu lies in the cooperation of everyone including the drivers and the vendors,” she said.
Close to 4,000 delegates will be attending the different APEC meetings in the coming months.
The delegates’ spouses and children may even tag along to explore Cebu City and other tourist destinations in the Province.
Delegates will arrive as early as August 22, 2015.
Safety
To beef up security measures during the APEC meetings in Cebu, officers from the Police Regional Office (PRO) 7 also went to Boracay .
Senior Supt. Erson Digal, chief of the PRO-7’s operations and plans division said over 4,300 personnel will be deployed throughout the venue to ensure the safety of the delegates and their families.
Officers will be fielded at the Mactan Cebu International Airport, traffic route, and hotel venues, among others.
Major meetings will be at the Marco Polo Plaza, Radisson Blue Hotel, and Shangri-La’s Hotel, Resort and Spa in Mactan.
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