Sea marshals to secure APEC delegates’ island tours

MANILA, Philippines – The Task Force on Maritime Security yesterday gave assurance that it would provide protection to the world leaders and delegates attending the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meetings when they go on boat tours.

APEC Task Force on Maritime Security chief Commodore Joel Garcia said the delegates would be accompanied in a boat tour of Manila Bay and Corregidor Island, as part of contingency plans.

“Based on past experiences, some of the delegates might want to go to Corregidor Island, some of them might want to tour Manila Bay. We would provide sea marshals on their tour boats and these boats would be escorted by our floating assets,” Garcia said.

Authorities have declared Manila Bay and Pasig River as a “no sail zone” and “exclusion zone” as part of security preparations for the APEC summit.

The no sail zone covers 30 yards from the shoreline going seawards, and would stretch from the Manila Hotel to Parañaque City.

The exclusion zone, on the other hand, is two nautical miles from shoreline going seaward and would cover Pasig River along North Harbor to Parañaque City.

From 1 p.m. of Nov. 17 until 1 p.m. of Nov. 20, the exclusive zone would be converted into a no sail zone, Garcia said.

“If it is an exclusion zone, the movement of the vessels are only restricted. If they want to move in that exclusion zone they have to ask permission from the TF Maritime Security or if those vessels want to berth or dock at South Harbor they would be escorted by our forces,” he said.

As to passengers of vessels from the North Harbor and South Harbor, Garcia said they are required to be at the pier two or three hours prior to their scheduled departure to give time for processing and security checks that would be done at the port.

The head of the APEC Security Task Force, Philippine National Police chief Director General Ricardo Marquez, also assured the Chinese delegation for the APEC that there is no threat against them during the summit. – With Pia Lee-Brago, Marvin Sy, Danny Dangcalan