Avoid hotels, restos that will be used by APEC delegates, public asked

The organizing committee of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit has asked the public to avoid checking in at hotels and dining at restaurants that will be used by world leaders and other dignitaries who will attend the APEC meetings this week.

"If a leader checks in at a hotel, the entire hotel is booked for that leader alone because he has an entourage. We were able to fit delegates into 14 hotels," said Marciano Paynor, the Director General of the APEC National Organizing Committee.

"It's a bad idea to dine in hotels during APEC, most hotels have been contracted by APEC members because they pay for their own food," he added.

Restaurants and establishments along Roxas Boulevard may be open but most of their customers will be APEC delegates, Paynor also said.

The director general also said that the operations of the SM Mall of Asia in Pasay City will be affected by the event but did not specify any more details.

Other malls in Metro Manila will still be open.

"Life goes back to normal on November 20 after lunch," he said.

Paynor advised the public to avoid Roxas Boulevard and EDSA on November 17 to 19.

Roxas Boulevard will be closed from MIA Road to P. Burgos from November 16 to 20. Roads connected to the major road such as Bukaneg Street, Vicente Sotto Street, and Buendia Avenue Extension will also be closed to traffic on the same dates.

Meanwhile, only APEC vehicles are allowed to use the innermost lanes of EDSA. A "Stop and Go" scheme will also be implemented in some parts of EDSA every time an economic leader passes by.

From November 18 to 19, the 21 leaders of APEC member-economies will hold a summit at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC).

To give way for this event, work and classes have been suspended and most commercial flights at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) have been cancelled. —Trisha Macas/NB, GMA News