Palace won't spend P10M to fix Gotioaco Building

Malacañang has rejected the request of the city government for P10 million to renovate the Gotiaoco Building for use by the Presidential Security Group for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Summit.

City Public Information Officer Nagiel Bañacia told reporters yesterday the national government will rather opt to use the amount for existing facilities rather than spend it on renovation. Likewise, the city also cannot spend for the renovation because it has already gone beyond its P20-million budget.

As of now, the city has already reached P34 million for its preparations for the summit. The most recent announcement for expenditure is the P29-million allocation for the 29 mountain barangays that will avail of the "Balik Bukid" program, a security measure to minimize the number of people in the city during the four-day event.

With this development, Bañacia said the PSG will then be housed at the Population Commission and Department of Education buildings. However, the city's engineering department has been tasked to measure the building's structural integrity to ascertain which parts can still be renovated.

It was found out that the building behind the main structure along the road is already dilapidated, thus, renovation is deemed impossible. The city government still intends to use the property and Bañacia said the plan to utilize it as a venue for renewal of business permits in January will still push through.

Last Friday, first gentleman Mike Arroyo attended the switching on of the digital clock that started the city's countdown to the ASEAN summit. The digital clock, situated at the Fuente Osmeña Rotunda, was donated by the Lhuillier family.

Also, the organizing committee has started accrediting business establishments that wish to be included in the guidebook for the summit. Yesterday, the media received an advanced kit with general information about the summit.

Bañacia earlier said the city will also organize a forum for media practitioners here in Cebu City on a "substantive coverage" of the summit, which will include a rundown of the issues that will be tackled during the four-day gathering.

He said orienting the local media of important details regarding the summit is necessary so that the media can relay to the public the significance of the event and the significance of the summit being held here.

Meanwhile, SM and SkyCable have reportedly agreed to sponsor a series of forums that will enable the city government to update the different sectors on its preparations for the summit.

"It's important to prepare the mindset of the Cebuano on why ASEAN is important and what we can get from it," Bañacia said. - Joeberth M. Ocao