President Duterte will stress the need to mitigate the health and economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic during the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit on Friday.
(RICHARD MADELO / PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO / FILE PHOTO / MANILA BULLETIN)
In an interview with State-run PTV-4, Chief of Presidential Protocol and Presidential Assistant on Foreign Affairs Robert Borje said the President knows that the situation now is different because of the pandemic.
"Tayo ay may pandemiya, kung kaya't kailangan nating gumawa ng paraan para maglaan ng plano at gumawa ng aksyon para ang ating ekonomiya ay patuloy na lalago (We are in a pandemic that's why we have to do something to ensure that our economy will grow)," he said Friday morning.
According to Borje, the President will join his fellow leaders from 21 member-economies of APEC in discussing efforts to fight COVID-19 and push for regional economic recovery.
"Ang isusulong ng Pangulo ay (kung) ano ang gagawin ng mga bansa para ma-mitigate ang health and economic impact ng COVID-19 (The President will bring to the table what countries can do to mitigate the health and economic impact of COVID-19)," he said.
"More importantly, going into the recovery period, ano ang dapat gawin ng mga bansa, para tuloy-tuloy ang pag-angat ng mga ekonomiya (what should countries do to ensure the growth of the economy)," he added.
The summit talks carry the theme “Optimizing Human Potential towards a Resilient Future of Shared Prosperity: Pivot. Prioritize. Progress.” It is expected to focus on addressing the health and economic impact brought by the pandemic as well as charting the new vision for APEC as a forum beyond 2020.
Borje said another important issue for President Duterte is the free flow of goods and supplies, particularly COVID-19 vaccines and other medical and pharmaceutical supplies and equipment.
"Kapag hindi natin na-address ang mga pangangailangang ito, kung may sakit ang mga tao, walang magtatrabaho, kung walang magtatrabaho, bagsak ang ekonomiya. So iyon ang foremost sa isip ng Pangulo (It's on top of the President's mind because if we are not able to address these needs-- if people remain sick and jobless, our economy will suffer)," he said.
According to Borje, the President decided to participate in this year's virtual summit because he knows how important it is to talk to other world leaders, citing his attendance in all past APEC summits during his term.
"Importante na ang mga relasyon natin sa ibang bansa, particularly with APEC, APEC-economies rather, ay mapaigting natin ang relasyon sa kanila. So kaya dadalo si Pangulo (It's important that we strengthen our relationship with other countries, particularly with APEC-economies. That's why the President is attending)," he said.
"Makikita mo ang interest at ang acknowledgment ni Pangulong Duterte---na importante na makihalubilo at makisalamuha siya sa kaniyang mga counterparts para maisulong ang ating mga economic agenda (You'll see that the President is interested and acknowledges the importance of talking with his counterparts so he can push for our economic agenda)," he added.
President Duterte was present at the APEC Summit in Peru in 2016, Vietnam in 2017, and Papua New Guinea in 2018. Last year's summit was supposed to be held in Chile but it was canceled due to widespread protests.