Cebu Action Plan launch a highlight in APEC meeting

CEBU, Philippines - The Cebu Action Plan (CAP), the development roadmap for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) region drafted by the Philippines, will be launched and approved next month in Cebu during the Finance Ministers Meeting here.

Officials announced yesterday that around 300 delegates from the 21 APEC member economies, including the Philippines, are attending the meeting on September 9-11 at the Shangri-La’s Mactan Resort and Spa.

Maria Edita Tan, assistant secretary of the Department of Finance (DoF), said finance ministers personally requested to have the meeting in Cebu where it was held during the Philippines’ last APEC hosting in 1996.

“They are very much interested and want to check into what Cebu could offer,” Tan told reporters yesterday.

One of the meeting’s highlights will be the launch of CAP, a four-pillar move to make APEC economies more integrated, transparent, and resilient, and also boost infrastructure development.

Tan noted the action plan, which the Philippines initiated, has gained support from finance officials of APEC nations.

“In the crafting of Cebu Action Plan, we’ve done a lot of consultations with these economies,” the DoF official said. “It’s not only the Philippines pushing for it, all the members are.”

The four pillars marking the CAP include promoting financial integration, advancing fiscal transparency and policy reform, enhancing financial resiliency and accelerating infrastructure development and financing.

Officials said the CAP is anchored mainly on inclusive growth, which is one of the key themes of the APEC meetings this year.

Finance Assistant Secretary Teresa Habitan said one of the long-term goals of CAP is ensuring that small and medium enterprises (SMEs) get enough credit access to make them grow.

“It’s a roadmap to where we want to be 5, 10 and 15 years from now,” she said.

Another long-term goal, according to Internal Revenue Chief Kim Henares, is promoting financial transparency among APEC economies with the aim to increase revenue.

“I think financial transparency is a long-term agenda,” Henares said, adding, “Globally the move is toward making all tax information transparent to all the economies.”

Henares explained economies must focus on generating revenue internally to support their development goals.

Meanwhile, Cebu is also hosting the third APEC Senior Officials’ Meeting and Related Meetings (SOM3) starting August 22-September 6. Two minister-level meetings are also happening in Cebu: the Structural Reform Ministerial Meeting from September 7-8 led by the National Economic and Development Authority and the DoF-led Finance Ministerial Meeting.

Security

At the Cebu City Hall, the Cebu City’s Police Coordinating and Advisory Council (PCAC) will ask the city government for additional money to augment the Philippine National Police’s budget for food for around 1,400 additional police personnel.

The 1,400 police personnel from other provinces of Region VII will arrive in Cebu on August 20, two days before the APEC events.

Vice Mayor Edgardo Labella, PCAC chairman, said the food and water provisions for these police personnel will prevent these people to leave from their posts.

“That is a very important concern when it comes to security that the security personnel should not go hungry and the security personnel should not leave their posts, so provisions of water and food is important,” he said.

He said the additional cops will be here on August 20 until September 11 and will be back from October 8 until October 14 for the security of the APEC delegates.

Since the additional cops from different provinces are not enough, PCAC sent communication to the city’s Association of Barangay Councils for at least 10 barangay tanods from each of the 80 barangays in the city to back the police.

Labella said he summoned ABC President and Tisa Barangay Captain Philip Zafra and ABC Vice President Joel Garganera to discuss the assignments of the barangay tanods.

Labella said the city government has to ensure that all the hotels and other venues will be provided with security personnel. — Carlo S. Lorenciana and Jean Marvette A. Demecillo/JMO (FREEMAN)