Poe tells gov’t: Ease inconvenience to commuters during APEC

Due to APEC 2015 summit, commuters from Cavite have to walk going to Baclaran, Paranaque City to find passenger vehicles on Monday, November 16, 2015, after authorities closed down a portion of EDSA. NINO JESUS ORBETA

MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Grace Poe urged the government, on Monday, to consider the plight of Filipinos affected by the weeklong Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Metro Manila.

“It’s really our responsibility to ensure the security of our visitors. But we should not forget to give consideration and deliver services to our countrymen,” Poe said in an interview after addressing an international forum in Pasig City.

Poe, a candidate for President in the next year’s elections, noted that the strict security measures and traffic rerouting for the APEC meeting have affected the people in the metropolis.

“Many of them had to change their schedule and had suffered inconveniences. I know we should have some patience, but it’s just right for the government to provide alternate (routes) for people who are still going to work,” she said.

Poe, head of the Senate committee on pubic order and dangerous drugs, said state security agencies and their foreign counterparts must share intelligence information about possible security threats in the wake of the terrorist attacks in France.

The senator also believed that there should be a regular assessment of the Philippines’ membership to APEC and other similar international trade organizations.

While the country’s membership to such international organizations might bring about economic development, she said the government should ensure “mutual protection and mutual support” in terms of each country’s policies on trade and commerce.

“It’s the responsibility of the government to always review (the country’s membership to international groups) if it still respond to our needs,” she said. “We have to protect ourselves, but we should also cooperate with the international community.”

Under a Poe presidency, she said she would “always push for something that would be advantageous to our economy.” SFM

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