BY REGINA BENGCO

PRESIDENT Arroyo left yesterday to attend the 16th Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Peru.

Arroyo and the Philippine delegation left the NAIA Centennial Terminal at past 3 p.m. for Los Angeles where she will have a short meeting with the Filipino community. She will then depart for Lima for the APEC leaders’ summit scheduled on Nov. 22 and 23.

In her departure statement which she issued at the inauguration of the UP-Ayala Technohub in Quezon City, Arroyo said she would express to the APEC leaders "the hope of our people that in seeking common ground on ways to coordinate assistance to our economies, we must do so in a way that puts the interest of the poor and the dispossessed ahead of the rich and the powerful."

Arroyo said she will push the promotion of small and medium enterprises when she and other heads of APEC economies meet with the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC).

The ABAC members will present specific recommendations to the leaders during their dialogue right after the APEC Leaders’ Retreat 1.

The recommendations include collaboration and activity-based regulations within and across APEC economies to address the global credit contraction, acceleration of APEC regional economic integration, addressing problems on food supply and prices, reduction of greenhouse gas emissions; and support for the development of SMEs in the Asia-Pacific region.

After the dialogue with the ABAC group, arrangements are being made for Arroyo to hold bilateral talks with other APEC leaders, including a meeting with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

While in Peru, Arroyo will lead the unveiling of the bust of Jose Rizal, at the Rizal Park in Lima, Peru’s first public park named after the national hero of another country.

The bronze bust was designed by Czech sculptor Hanstroff and is atop a monument-type pedestal where four inaugural markers are mounted.

Inscribed in one marker are the words, "Dr. Jose P. Rizal, Heroe Nacional de Filipinas, Nacionalista, Reformador Political, Escritor, Linguistica y Poeta, 1861-1896."

Inscribed in another marker are the formal inaugural rites led by the President and witnessed by district Mayor Luis Divos Vargas Prada.

Arroyo will also be conferred an honorary doctorate degree in science, economics and administration by the Universidad de San Ignacio de Loyola, one of Peru’s most distinguished and prestigious educational institutions.