Honda, BMW reorient drivers for ASEAN Summit delegates

Less than a week before the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Summit starts, two car companies had to conduct new orientation sessions for police personnel assigned to drive vehicles for the summit delegates.

Honda and BMW had to train 77 police personnel yesterday to replace those from Luzon who were no longer made to come back to Cebu. The two car firms have lent cars to the government to be used as transportation of the summit delegates.

At least 41 police personnel have been assigned to drive the Honda Accord units while over 74 policemen were assigned to drive the BMW units.

Arturo Briones, of Honda's marketing-sales department, told The Freeman that the summit's National Organizing Committee has replaced all the 41 police personnel they had trained before the original schedule of the summit last month. Of the 74 personnel assigned to drive the BMW units, the NOC has only replaced 36.

The police personnel underwent orientation and test-driving yesterday at the ASEAN Summit Cebu Task Force headquarters just across the Cebu International Convention Center in Mandaue City. The task force headquarters also shelter the vehicles to be used by the spouses of the heads of states, and the official patrol cars of the security personnel.

The policemen originally assigned to drive the Honda cars came from the National Capital Region and Regions 3 and 4. The new drivers come from Regions 7, 8 and 10.

Briones said the orientation was necessary for the drivers to know the salient features of the Accord, Honda's latest model. Aside from this, the car company also wants to make sure that the drivers are capable of driving at the required speed of at least 100 kilometers per hour.

Briones said they would also want to ensure that the cars would be handled well because the vehicles already have waiting owners. Honda had to cease accepting payments for the vehicles after the summit was put off last month.

Each Accord unit was priced at P1.6 million but Honda has given the buyers of the 41 units a P500,000 discount. The buyers may also get along the special ASEAN Summit car plate.

Also yesterday, the members of the augmentation force who returned to Cebu for the summit were required to have the serial number of the firearms recorded and the patrol car earlier assigned to them returned to their custody.

The other day, Malacañang has declared January 12 and 15 as special holidays for government offices and schools in the cities of Cebu, Mandaue, and Lapu-Lapu. The local governments had initially recommended to also include January 13 and 14 as special holidays, but the Cebu Organizing Committee deemed it inappropriate to exclude these days, as they fall on a weekend.

The summit, which will officially start on January 12, will be preceded by a series of meetings to be attended by senior officials like the economic and foreign ministers. Over 52 meetings would be held at the Shangri-La Mactan Island Resort and the CICC.

The augmentation force of 1,420 military and police personnel from all over the country started returning to Cebu to act as guards to streets and key areas where summit activities will be held.

Senior officials of the participating countries would start arriving on January 9, although the police anticipate that some would arrive as early as January 8. The heads of state are expected to arrive on January 12, as their meetings would start on January 13. The other meetings with dialogue partners would commence on January 14.

The summit was called off just two days before it was supposed to officially start on December 10. The NOC stood firm that it was Typhoon Seniang that caused the summit's postponement, but some suspected that it was triggered by terrorism threats and the political storm brewing in Manila.

Incidentally, the postponement came just a day after the United States, Britain and Australia warned of a possible terrorist attack in Cebu during the summit, although their respective advisories did not necessarily say that the threats had anything to do with the summit itself.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who inspected the CICC and the newly built Most Important Person Lounge at the Mactan Cebu International Airport last month, had expressed satisfaction over Cebu's preparations for the event. - Joeberth M. Ocao/LPM