Next week the Philippines is hosting a huge meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC). Lots of important people are coming into town including our very own President Obama. They've declared it a special national holiday for 3 days next week. Most locals joke that it's a way to make the city seem less crowded and to minimize the typical standstill traffic. Gotta put on a pretty face for the visitors. There's been a recent media flurry on the Manila airport "bullet scandal" which is also not great timing. You can read a brief article here. Hopefully the meetings are peacefully productive. Tension surrounding the conflict with China over disputed areas in the South China Sea will be one of the major points of discussion. The guest list for APEC is pretty impressive. According to this article, the world's "most powerful person" will be in attendance. The cost of hosting such a gathering: $212 million USD. Yikes! Now that's a hefty party budget.
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