The Philippines deployed maritime forces on Friday (November 13), bolstering its security a few days before the APEC summit in Manila.
The deployment marked the full activation of maritime security measures as coast guard, navy, and police surface vessels set out from the headquarters of the Philippine coast guard in Manila.
Coast guard personnel, police, and Marines boarded boats equipped with machine guns in Manila Bay, situated next to the venue of the leaders meeting
An estimated 60-70 surface vessels, along with special operations teams and snipers, will patrol Manila’s shoreline for the duration of the summit.
The Philippine coast guard has started deploying forces early in November, gradually intensifying security in Manila’s north harbor over the next few weeks.
Exclusion zones covering several parts of the Manila shoreline have also been implemented.
Coast guard officials said that commercial vessels will not be affected as long as they stay clear of the no-sail zones.
International vessels are also expected to observe the exclusion zones, although officials said that no major threat exists.
“We have not received maritime security threats from any group, except that we have to prepare for such an eventuality to provide security to our APEC leaders to prevent that nothing untoward incident (sic) would happen,” said Philippine coast guard commodore Joel Garcia, who commands the APEC maritime security task group.
Heads of state of the 21 member nations attending the APEC summit will begin arriving in Manila on Sunday (November 15) for a two-day summit (November 18-19).
Aside from maritime security measures, Philippine authorities have also enforced no-fly zones over Manila’s Ninoy Aquino International Airport.
More than 1,300 flights by local and international carriers have been cancelled because of runway closures for the leaders’ arrivals.
Philippine President Benigno Aquino has declared November 17 to 20 as non-working days in the capital, anticipating the heavy traffic that would accompany the meetings.
APEC, which includes economic powerhouses like the United States, China, Japan, South Korea, and Australia, groups 21 economies which account for 40 percent of the world’s population, 46.5 percent of world trade, and more than half of global production. (Reuters)
