PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said all systems are in place for the Philippines to host the 49th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) Summit next week.
In a video message on Thursday, Marcos highlighted the crucial role of hosting the summit, saying it will provide an avenue to address global and regional challenges.
“Many of these problems cannot be solved by us alone, which is why Asean is so important,” Marcos said in Filipino.
“The preparations are complete, and they were carried out in great detail. The skill and creativity of the Filipinos will surely take center stage,” he added.
Marcos also acknowledged that preparations for the summit caused temporary inconveniences to the public. However, he noted that the long-term benefit of the regional dialogue among world leaders outweighs the temporary inconveniences.
“Although there may be some minor inconveniences in the coming days, these will only be temporary — we just ask for a little patience. I am confident that the benefits we will gain — from the policies that will be agreed upon and the jobs that will be created — will far outweigh any such disruptions,” he said.
The preparations for the summit have reportedly temporarily closed several businesses within the vicinity of the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC), which is the venue of the event.
The government has since provided aid to those affected — including P10,000 financial assistance.
Traffic has also worsened due to the last-minute road rehabilitation in major thoroughfares.
Despite these issues, Marcos maintained that it is an honor for the Philippines to welcome the 20 world leaders expected to arrive.
“It is a tremendous honor to host the Asean Summit, and it serves as a great opportunity for us to showcase — not just to Southeast Asia, but to the entire world — how beautiful our country is and how exceptional our people are,” Marcos said.
As host, the Philippines aims to steer the regional agenda toward pressing concerns that directly impact everyday citizens, such as food security, job creation and economic stability.
The chief executive also highlighted the extensive, meticulous preparations undertaken across the country, which have provided a significant economic boost to local industries, micro, small and medium enterprises, creative workers, hospitality establishments and transport providers.
Money well spent
Malacañang on Thursday said the P22.9-billion budget for the country’s hosting of the 49th Asean Summit will be well spent and be subjected to audit.
Presidential Communications Office Undersecretary Claire Castro said President Marcos “believes that public funds must be returned to the people.”
“So, this government is ready to be audited. The government is ready to submit a report to show you where everything we prepared as host of the Asean Summit went,” Castro said in Filipino.
In a press briefing, Castro said the president will ensure that the budget for Asean hosting will “not be wasted.”
“He will not allow this to be spent improperly. This will be reported and will be subject to the COA (Commission on Audit), which is why this government must sustain its fight against corruption,” she said.
Castro said the country already conducted a total of 393 meetings and “there will be 164 meetings more.”
“So, that is more than 550 meetings in total compared with 279 meetings [conducted] during the 2017 Philippine [hosting of Asean] summit,” Castro added.
Security readiness
A total of 23,154 police personnel from the Philippine National Police will be mobilized to ensure the safety of all delegates attending the Asean Summit.
With the arrival of world leaders and international delegations drawing near, the Southern Police District (SPD), led by Police Brig. Gen. Rodel Pastor, is stepping up security and working with the National Capital Region Police Office, other Philippine National Police (PNP) units and partner agencies to ensure the safe, peaceful and orderly conduct of the international event.
Aside from the 20,079 PNP personnel, 3,075 representatives from participating government agencies will also be mobilized. Of the PNP personnel, 2,243 are assigned to the SPD to support security operations within its area of responsibility.
Security preparations cover key routes, summit venues, billeting areas and other identified deployment areas. These measures are being carried out through coordinated planning, interagency collaboration, intelligence-driven operations, personnel briefings and contingency preparations.
The security framework also involves three layers of protection: close-in security and access control, perimeter security and crowd management, and outer-area security through police visibility, preventive patrols and regular peace-and-order operations. These layers are designed to provide coordinated protection while allowing the summit and related activities to proceed without disruption.
Vendors get help
The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) on Thursday continued distributing assistance to vendors affected by preparations for the Asean Summit.
In a statement, the department said 1,462 vendors and business owners received family food packs (FFPs) and P10,000 each in financial assistance “to help with their daily needs while their businesses cannot temporarily operate.”
The DSWD provided FFPs and cash aid to 30 vendors on Sunday and 54 vendors on Wednesday.