Ambassador Marciano Paynor Jr., director general of operations of the ASEAN National Organizing Council (NOC) said this was decided upon by his council so as not to disrupt flights at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), as there are more flights at NAIA than at CIA.
In the Philippines as in most countries, skies over international airports are declared no-fl y zones to accommodate the arrival or departure of aircraft bearing heads of states.
A source from the Clark International Airport Corp. (CIAC), however, said the aircraft of the heads of states would still make use of NAIA, with the CIA accommodating only the aircraft of other delegates to the ASEAN summit.
Paynor recalled that during the Asia Pacifi c Economic Cooperation (APEC) in 2015. some 450 NAIA flights were affected, as a single aircraft of a head of state cancelled three regular flights.
At the same time, Catalino Cuy, officer-in-charge of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and chair of the Committee on Security, Peace and Order, Emergency Preparedness and Response (CSPOEPR) for the summit, asked the public to take other routes and refrain from passing through the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) and EDSA during the summit days.
Malacanang had declared Nov 13-14 non-working days in Pampanga, Bulacan, and National Capital Region in relation to the ASEAN events being hosted by the Philippines.
He said a stop-andgo scheme will be implemented every time a convoy of ASEAN delegate passes through these major highways.
He asked local government officials in Pampanga, Bulacan and Metro Manila to beautify and put up welcome signages along routes to be negotiated by ASEAN delegates between Clark and the Manila venues.
The security and safety preparations for the ASEAN summit are spearheaded by the CSPOEP which is composed of 21-member agencies headed by the DILG.
