Pinatubo trek a hit among Apec guests

CLARK FREEPORT—Souvenir items made out of Mt. Pinatubo’s ash and sand as well as treks to the volcano’s crater lake were hits to many of the 1,700 delegates to the meetings here of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec), a police official said.

Chief Supt. Ronald Santos, officer in charge of Central Luzon regional police, said the Apec participants bought the items sold at SM Clark’s Kultura, a shop that features a wide array of Philippine-made products.

The favorite destination of Chinese delegates was the crater lake that they reached via Barangay (village) Sta. Juliana in Capas town in Tarlac, said Santos. The site was well secured because it is assigned to the Philippine Air Force.

Only 800 participants remained in Clark as of Wednesday. They were expected to attend the Apec Senior Officials Meeting 1 on Feb. 6 and 7.

Except for a Russian delegate, all delegates did not encounter any untoward incident in the last nine days, Santos said. He said the Russian complained of an upper respiratory problem but Filipino doctors immediately attended to the patient. Tonette Orejas, Inquirer Central Luzon