Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum has been established reportedly, “to facilitate economic growth and prosperity in the region, with the vision of creating a seamless regional economy.”
But US President Obama has sent a strong and clear message across the world about his goal of maintaining peace in the region. He declared that the United States has an “unbreakable” and “iron clad” treaty with the Philippines regarding its defense from foreign aggression. Not only that, the treaty is for other humanitarian purposes, as well.
It’s understandable that some Filipinos don’t even know the meaning of APEC. Although APEC has been featured on TVs and the newspapers, there’s still lack of information on what APEC can do for the economy. There are also lack of coordination on how commuters and private cars can travel during the APEC Summit.
A rerouting plan was issued by concerned government agencies but it was ineffective in allowing the smooth flow of traffic. Cars had to crawl for hours from one point to another.
On Twitter and Facebook, disgruntled citizens vented their anger and frustration. Some recounted how they have walked for more than an hour to report to work or to do their business for the day because roads were closed due to the APEC event. #APECtado trended on Twitter.
However, Filipinos are resilient and are able to find something positive to alleviate their anger or misery during trying situations. As expected, some Netizens came up with “Who is the APECHottie or APECBae
It’s a vote between the handsome Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, and the dashing Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto. The hashtags trended as Netizens shifted from complaining about the traffic to voting and tweeting about who is more worthy of being Mr. APEC 2015.
To date, Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto leads with 55%, while Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has 45% votes.
Based on the author’s observation though, US President Obama wins, hands down, based on his actions, words and pivotal role in the APEC 2015 summit. Even Karen Davila, the popular TV news anchor woman has chosen him as her APEC Hottie.
Here are some of the APEC reactions on Twitter:
If you ask me, Obama wins as #APEChottie after watching him moderate a session w ease, substance & charm 😝
— Karen Davila (@iamkarendavila) November 18, 2015
walking dead philippines #apectado pic.twitter.com/xCl6OmieSR
— ㅤ (@raphaelmiguel) November 16, 2015
Suddenly, everybody (on my timeline) is happy about #APEC2015 because of Mexico.
— Neil Baquiran (@tahoboi) November 17, 2015
Ang daming nega about #APEChottie trend. We are just having fun. But it doesn't mean na wala na kaming concern about the APEC meeting.
— Aly Almario (@iamAlyloony) November 18, 2015
"Knock knock"
"Who's there?"
"Trudeau"
"Trudeau who?"
"I can make it Trudeau rain i can stand up once again"
#APEChottie
— Riri Eclevia ✖ (@NoMediocre97) November 17, 2015
Shoutouts sa @govph for poor service to Filipino people but expensively-funded preps for APEC Summit. Tang ina nyo po. #APECtado
— Jah Rosales (@beyondelijah) November 16, 2015
Spot on! 👇🏼
"It hurts that we are second-class citizens in our own nation." #APECtado pic.twitter.com/OTntqyOsax
— Miss Krizzy (@krizzy_kalerqui) November 16, 2015
With APEC policies, top 1% of people will have more wealth than bottom 99% by 2016, habang ang ordinaryong tao nga-nga #APECtado
— Neri Colmenares (@ColmenaresPH) November 16, 2015
Hopefully, the row about sea territories between China, the Philippines and other ASEAN countries will be resolved, even if it’s not one of the agendas, reportedly. US President Obama has already set the tone when the first thing he did was to visit the Philippine warship where he declared the “iron clad” treaty between the U.S. and the Philippines.
The U.S. President’s parting words: “Salamat…Thank you to the Filipino people for their friendship.”
