By Rea Cu
ROAD-rerouting schemes for public and private modes of transportation, special nonworking holidays for government and private corporations and, of course, the Metro Manila traffic multiplied to unbearable lengths, literally.
These are some of the things that the working-class, both in Metro Manila and elsewhere, had to endure during the weeklong Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit.
Recalling what went down last week starting from November 16 to 20, leaders and delegates from the different economies comprising the Apec have converged in Manila, the host country this year, for the Apec CEO Summit. The CEO summit, from my understanding, is a venue wherein the different leaders can create stronger partnerships with member-economies, discuss ways and means on how to maximize the growth and development of their respective communities and to present the progress and detours each country has encountered and achieved since the last summit.
Cleaner streets, convenient time on the road and basically taking care of the needs of the delegates during the summit, that was what President Aquino showed when he welcomed the leaders of the 21 member-economies to the Republic of the Philippines.
As an effect of the measures that were done to achieve such convenience and cleanliness, various reactions were bound to happen just like Isaac Newton’s law: For every action there is a complete and opposite reaction. Different reactions were prominent among the Filipinos.
Traffic was a nightmare for most, especially for people residing in the South. Their one hour travel going to and from work tripled because of Apec lanes ate into an already sparse road space.
The upside is that the government declared two days during the Apec summit week as special nonworking holidays. Most working millennials took advantage of this and traveled. Those who stayed can expect a little bit of increase in their next paycheck.
Personally, I think the Apec summit was a success. Despite the traffic, the long hours of waiting for a public vehicle to take me home from work and the minor inconveniences, the summit benefits the country and its future.
The leaders got to discuss their respective goals and points. They got what they came here to do. In some sense, it got the ball rolling for most economies, which is aimed toward betterment and development.
The modern day Filipino may not feel the positive effects now, but I believe these would be seen in the months or years to come.
“For me, Apec [summit] went well. It was well-planned and everything fell on its respective places. Many complained about the inconvenience and #trAPEC but the people should understand [that] behind [these], there would be something good to happen to our country,” Dani Aguilar, a 21-year-old Hospitality management graduate from Centro Escolar University, told the BusinessMirror.
“We should do anything and everything for the love of our country,” Aguilar, who is also an entrepreneur, said.
Sofia, a 25-year-old marketing manager for a company that manufactures laundry machines and equipment, kept herself updated on the Apec summit through social media. She said people should look past the inconveniences the summit brought and look at what matter most.
“I mostly get the news from Facebook and it saddens me that a lot are complaining about the Apec summit in the Philippines,” Sofia, who declined to give her real name, said.
If they are not complaining, netizens are raving how good-looking were some leaders, she added.
“I see everything as shallow and pathetic.”
She added that some people forgot about “what mattered most in this big event.” Sofia added that the country’s “alliances with other countries are more important than traffic problems, etc.”
Whether we feel the same or we feel differently toward the recently concluded Apec summit, one thing is certain: we millennials had the chance to experience it again after 19 years. It’s up to millennial workers if we or the Philippine government will make the most out of it for the improvement of the country’s state.
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Rea Cu is a researcher for the BusinessMirror. Like this story online via the BusinessMirror Millennials Universe (BMMU) Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Millennial-Universe/435594193285671. Follow BMMU on Twitter via @millennial_U or Instagram (type Millennial Universe). E-mail comments or story to millennialuniverse@yahoo.com and the editor at dennis.estopace@gmail.com.
Image credits: Nonie Reyes