Early birds arrive at Clark for Asean summit
Several world leaders started arriving yesterday for the summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and its dialogue partners in Manila this week.
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and Myanmar State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi arrived yesterday afternoon at the Clark International Airport.
Among those who welcomed them were former president and Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana and Pampanga Gov. Lilia Pineda. Twenty leaders from ASEAN and its dialogue partners are expected to arrive this weekend for the 31st ASEAN Summit and Related Meetings.
Other ASEAN leaders who will attend the summit include Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei, President Joko Widodo
of Indonesia, Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith of Laos, Prime Minister Najib Razak of Malaysia, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong of Singapore, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha of the Kingdom of Thailand and Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc of Vietnam.
World leaders who will be in the country include United States President Donald Trump, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull of Australia, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada, Premier Li Keqiang of China, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern of New Zealand, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev of Russian and President Moon Jae-in of South Korea.
European Council President Donald Tusk of the European Union and United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres are also expected to attend the summit.
Leaders' secure
The government yesterday assured the safety of the heads of state and other delegates of the ASEAN summit from active shooters similar to the one who killed 58 people in Las Vegas last month.
Interior and Local Government officer-in-charge Catalino Cuy said despite the recent bad weather, members of the ASEAN Security Task Force (ASTF) still held a simulation exercise in response to an active shooting incident.
Philippine National Police, Philippine Coast Guard and security personnel from the Presidential Security Group took part in the simulation exercise.
The security forces were “very much ready just in case an active shooting incident occurs during the summit,” Cuy said.
Chief Supt. William Macavinta, team leader during the simulation exercise, said a quick response to an active shooting incident is necessary to limit to the number of victims.
“Shooting incidents like those that happened in Las Vegas, San Francisco in California and Resorts World are classic examples of active shooting incidents, which could happen anywhere, even during the summit. This is why we are doing all these exercises to test our skills and alertness so that we will be ready just in case a similar incident happens here,” he added.
Government anti-terror agents have also heightened their intelligence monitoring and target-hardening operations in the National Capital Region (NCR) and Central Luzon to secure the ASEAN Summit. –