The upcoming APEC meeting is not a holiday

ALTHOUGH we have, along with the rest of our friends in the local media, dutifully reported the news that the government has declared a holiday period next month (November 17 to November 20) for the meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) in Manila, we have the impression that the public is for the most part neither aware of nor interested in the international trade and policy conference.

It should be. For most of this year, the Philippines has played host to a series of APEC meetings in different places, mainly Cebu and Iloilo, and to be selected as the venue for the APEC is not only a compliment to our country, but an indicator that we are considered to have some degree of global relevance.