My APEC Experience

Last year, I was at Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 every week for my National Service Training Program (NSTP), encoding OFWs’ papers into the POEA’s data systems at their booth. For each of those times, I would always pass by a board with the logo of APEC 2015: Philippines. What did it mean to me back then? I found it exciting that several world leaders would be coming into the country, but felt more eager to see what the Philippines can do as a host country.

Fast forward to Tuesday and Wednesday (November 17 & 18), I found myself among the CEOs and Economic Leaders as a volunteer stationed at the Makati Shangri-La Hotel. What a dream come true. 

Months before, it was decided that classes had been cancelled for that particular week (sweet), yet as my family and I planned to go out of town to Tagaytay for the holiday, I stumbled upon the call for volunteers for the CEO Summit through an organization. Second thoughts entered because I wanted to have a break from the continuous flow of school work every week and that would’ve been my chance. On the day of the deadline, I brushed it off and submitted my form just an hour before deadline. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, after all. 

The theme for the APEC CEO Summit was, “Creating the Future: Better, Stronger, Together”, which aimed for inclusive economic growth among its member economies and an open economy to achieve this. The logo is actually an infographic on each economy’s GDP per capita represented by different colors. Thus, the longer lines represent the biggest economies, namely, the United States, China, and Russia. 

The man behind it all: Guillermo Luz of Makati Business Club briefed us at Ateneo Law School.

I received confirmation and further instructions, including attending two training sessions, one held at Ateneo Law School at Rockwell and Makati Shangri-La Hotel, wherein they discussed protocol and proper ethics when dealing with guests, briefed us on our tasks, and reminded us that each and every one of us had to be at our best. We reflected the Philippines to the guests.

The guest list blew our minds away: leaders of economies that were expected to come were President Barack Obama (U.S.A.), President Xi JinPing (China), Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (Japan), President Park Geun-Hye (South Korea), Prime Minister Lee Hsien-Loong (Singapore), Chief Executive CY Leung (Hong Kong), and many more, including CEOs of the top 100 companies of the world.

Among them, we were most enthusiastic to see the “APEC hotties”, President Enrique Nieto (Mexico) and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (Canada) the most. And not to mention, President Vladimir Putin of Russia, whose name was met with loud shrieks from the volunteers. Unfortunately, he was not able to come and has been represented by his Prime Minister, Dmitry Medvedev.

But we definitely needed to be at our best. 

This greets you as you enter Makati Shangr-La Hotel through the main entrance.

It felt surreal seeing the drawn floor plan come to life when I came for my shift on Tuesday morning. Makati Shangri-La had been transformed with APEC decorations and furniture everywhere to accommodate guests and security has heightened with entrances only accessible for those with authorized IDs.

I was assigned, along with four of my fellow course-mates, to Sponsors P Rooms on the third level, accessible only through elevator. “P rooms” because the floor had three rooms called, “Pasig”, “Paranaque”, and “Pasay”, all reserved for special meetings, lunches, and dinners. It was a very small area with a narrow hallway connecting the rooms. 

Pasay Room

Our first task were to assist Pricewaterhouse Cooper (PwC) Asia Pacific with their scheduled lunch with clients which included quality control, registration, and ushering, as well as small jobs like arranging their company magazines, their tumblers, and helping in whatever they needed help with.

We were not expecting to see economic leaders and were delighted to hear from Miss Kassy (our supervisor), that a bilateral meeting between Hong Kong and New Zealand would be held in one of our rooms. It felt like a scene in the movies.

Bomb-sniffing dogs came in to check our floor. The room was arranged to how the staff of both economies wanted it to be. Media came in. We volunteers were standing outside the room. Everyone was silent. Minutes later, the Prime Minister of New Zealand, John Key, walked by, followed by his security personnel and staff through the hallway and into the room, followed by the Chief Executive of Hong Kong, CY Leung, with his bodyguards and staff. He passed by us, made eye contact, and nodded. We nodded back and fangirled inside.

Our next guest at the P rooms was a dinner organized by Sir Andrew of Merck & Co. We gave him very much needed assistance and were awed by his relaxed demeanor and friendliness all throughout, despite being the organizer, emcee, and entertaining his guests all at the same time.

When my newfound friend and I left the floor for a task at Shang Palace, we spotted the red carpet spread from the main entrance to the elevator with people lined at the side, as well as four elevators reserved. “For a VIP”, said the operator. When I asked who, he whispered, “Brunei”. His majesty, Sultan of Brunei Darussalam, Hassanal Bolkiah, arrived minutes later. The people swarmed the red carpet as he walked, and he extended his hand to greet them. The video below was taken from the stairs since I would not be able to get a glimpse of him if I stayed on the first floor (I’m one of those “vertically-challenged people” according to my Philosophy professor).

Lunch and dinner was our consolation for the long work hours – it was a hotel buffet of salmon, salads, steak, prawn, noodles, pudding, chocolate cakes, and many more. Unfortunately, on the first day of my shift, our lunch break was almost 3pm and 8pm, and only the leftovers were available to us. We made up for it the next day as you can see on my plate.

Wednesday lunch

The next day, U.S. President Barack Obama was having a speech with Alibaba Group founder and Executive Chairman, Jack Ma, when I entered the hotel. I didn’t know it was protocol, but the whole building was on lockdown with guards in every entrance and exit, including rooms, which were divided by curtains. Unfortunately, I was at the elevator area on my way to third floor, and I wasn’t allowed to go anywhere else until President Obama left the building a few minutes later so I wasn’t able to watch him speak on one of the television screens upstairs.

When President Obama left the hotel, I was able to go up to the third floor and found my team mates pre-occupied with either the magazines available or Chinese President Xi Jin Ping delivering his speech on the TV screens. It’s in Chinese! My team mates had a laugh teasing me of my Chinese background. I can only understand a few words, such as “because”, “cooperation”, or “we wish”. Lol. I will study the Chinese language harder from now on. The whole building was still pretty much on a less tight lockdown.

Then it was Russia’s turn. Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev entered the ballroom stage and spoke. It was in Russian, but one of the supervisors was there to help us understand what was going on. He had a headset and relayed to us what he was saying, and taught us a few things about the seating arrangement of economy leaders and security. Obama had snipers everywhere, he said. 

Prime Minister of Russa, Dmitry Medvedev, in place of President Vladimir Putin

We weren’t able to see them personally, but we were in the same building. Good enough. 

Sponsor P Rooms Team

Production Lounge. Look at all the volunteers!

Rizal Ballroom. The televised plenary session with the economy leaders were held here. This photo was taken a few hours the event closed.

Wednesday wasn’t as busy and after the Prime Minister of Russia spoke, all volunteers had our lunch at the ground floor, followed by a toast on a job well done with the events heads, Valerie and Art. French music played for Valerie’s home country of France and we had a farewell party.

The official photo taking for volunteers was held inside the Rizal Ballroom, then being tidied up with the next big event to be held at SM Mall of Asia Arena. 

Guillermo Luz, Head of this year's APEC CEO Summit

Who knew Mr. Guillermo Luz, Executive Director of the Makati Business Club and Head of this year’s CEO Summit, was an Atenean? I had the chance to briefly converse with him after this photo was taken and found out we were from the same School of Social Sciences.

I did not regret it. Despite all the time spent for training, the long hours of standing, and the danger, what APEC 2015 CEO Summit gave me were irreplaceable once in a lifetime experiences. The first APEC Summit the Philippines ever held was back in 1996, the year I was born and the next won’t happen again for the next nineteen to twenty years in the future.

I am thankful and glad to meet Mr. Guillermo Luz, Mr. Art Navarro (the Volunteers Head), Ms. Valerie, and especially Ms. Kassy Pajarillo (my awesome P Rooms Supervisor), for letting me be a part of this. Congratulations to a job well done and a wonderful event. One year of work has come to an end and I’ve learned a lot from all of you.

The crowded Makati Shangri-La Hotel lobby filled with businessmen, security personnel, and staff, the flashing of my name and picture on the huge screen every time I entered a room, the Bloomberg, CNN, DHL, and PwC stations, foreigners looking dashing in suits and dresses, the exchanges of different languages and customs everywhere, the names I memorized during the PwC lunch and the Merck & Co. dinner, the bomb-sniffing dogs, the red carpet, the leaders of economy, and the people behind it all who work behind the scenes – these are images that I will carry.

I’ll never forget how it felt surreal – the tension, the excitement, and how it felt like it was a movie each time a leader of economy arrived in a convoy of security guards, a Toyota Fortuner, and a BMW – how everyone turned their heads, stood straighter, and held their breaths when they walked by us.

How we had hoped to get a glimpse of our favorite leader (or more specifically, how every girl shrieked with the thought of seeing Canada Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, or Mexico President, Enrique Pena Nieto).

How everyone was on their best foot forward, serving with a smile no matter how tired we all were. It felt rewarding every time a foreign guest would thank us for all the hard work or how we should all have some rest. And we all worked together for the event. The production room on the ground floor was our lounge, but movement never ceased because of our shifts and tasks.

And I’ll hold dearly to the photos I have on my phone, my uniform, my ID, and the memories I have at Makati Shangri-La Hotel, as life moves forward and everything returns to normal. 

...

faith

first two photos are not mine.