PBBM to skip APEC summit, taps DTI chief as PH representative

By Ruth Abbey Gita-Carlos, Philippine News Agency

Marcos will not join the APEC Summit to prioritize domestic concerns, including government responses to calamities, Presidential Communications Office (PCO) Acting Secretary Cesar Chavez told Palace reporters. (PCO file photo)

MANILA – President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. will skip the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders’ Week that will be held in Lima, Peru from Nov. 10 to 16, Malacañang announced Thursday.

Marcos will not join the APEC Summit to prioritize domestic concerns, including government responses to calamities, Presidential Communications Office (PCO) Acting Secretary Cesar Chavez told Palace reporters.

Chavez said Marcos had decided to designate Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Acting Secretary Ma. Cristina Roque as Special Envoy to the APEC Economic Leaders’ Week.

“The designation of Secretary Roque confirms that the President is not attending,” he said.

Roque’s appointment as special envoy was posted on the PCO’s official Facebook page.

The APEC Economic Leaders’ Week will bring together the leaders, ministers, and senior officials of the 21 APEC member economies, which account for half of global trade and 60 percent of world gross domestic product to shape the future of trade and globalization policies.

APEC’s 21 member economies are Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, the United States, and Vietnam.

Carrying the theme “Empower. Include. Grow,” this year’s priorities focus on trade and investment for inclusive and interconnected growth; innovation and digitalization to promote the transition to the formal and global economy; and sustainable growth for resilient development.

Chaired by Peru, the APEC meeting aims to provide a strategic vision and directives for collaboration in the region in the coming year.

New presidential appointees

The PCO also released on its Facebook page a list of newly appointed government officials.

Based on the list, Marcos named Noel Eugene Euebio Servigon as the Philippines’ non-resident ambassador to Bulgaria and Moldova.

Servigon’s new appointment is in addition to his concurrent post as Philippine Ambassador to Romania.

Marcos also designated Benjamin Turgano as acting president and chief executive officer of the Natural Resources Development Corp. (NRDC).

Turgano will also serve as acting member of the NRDC’s Board of Directors.

The President named Richard Anthony Fadullon as prosecutor general and Romeo Dela Cruz as assistant secretary of the Department of National Defense.