Davao International Airport, Davao City
November 17, 2016

President Rodrigo Roa Duterte departed Davao International Airport for the 24th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders’ Meeting in Lima, Peru from November 19-20, 2016.
“This will be an important opportunity for the Philippines to work closely with our economic partners in the region, to take stock of the efforts to facilitate economic growth and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific, and to determine ways of moving forward to achieve our shared goals,” the President said in his departure speech.

He added that he would discuss the key components of his 10-point Socio-Economic Program to the other 20 economic leaders who will participate in the Summit. These include improvements in doing businesses because of responsive and efficient governance, substantial investments in infrastructure, a new focus on rural development, and the augmented investments to human capital.
“My message to APEC will be clear: The Philippines is open for business. We will do everything to make sure that business, particularly our MSMEs, will thrive and flourish — small and medium,” he stated.

The President also vowed to highlight during the Summit his government policy support and its efforts to address corruption and criminality.
“As I have said before, your government is working very hard to make sure that our economy will finally take flight. I really hope so. Nasa runway lang tayo hanggang ngayon,” he stressed.

This year’s theme for the APEC Leaders’ Meeting is “Quality Growth and Human Capital Development: A Foundation for Sustainable Growth in the Asia-Pacific.” This will be President Duterte’s first visit to South America.

After his speech, the President committed to look into the problem of child abuse in the country. According to reports filed by the police, the number of cases related to child abuse had increased. The President’s sudden remarks on the topic was due to the incident on November 13, 2016 wherein a child has been physically abused by his own guardians in Calinan, Davao City.

*  *  *