CICC still open for other takers

CEBU, Philippines - The Cebu Province is still open for other parties, public or private, interested in acquiring the Cebu International Convention Center (CICC), even though the Mandaue City Government has already shown its desire to own the property.

“Mandaue City has expressed its interest to acquire CICC. I opened to the (CICC) board (last Friday) about it and it was agreed that Mandaue has to formalize its (intent). We would expect communication from Mandaue (soon),” said Cebu Gov. Hilario Davide III said.

He said, though, that the province is open for other takers as it wants to get the best value out of the multi-million center.

“We also agreed there in our meeting last Monday that we are not opposed to receiving proposals from private groups who are interested in partnership with the province or joint venture ba,” he said.

The governor said that in the meantime, the Capitol and the Mandaue City assessors would make a joint appraisal of the market value of the property anytime soon so they could sit down again and discuss further the city’s proposal to buy the CICC.

“Ipa-assess pa na how much gyud ang value sa property, “ he said.

Davide said Mandaue hopes to convert the facility, which was used as venue of the Asean Summit in 2007, into a year-long expo center open for all kinds of trades.

He said that although it also means little expenses for upkeep, the CICC has not been earning since it was damaged by the earthquake last Oct. 8 and super typhoon Yolanda last Nov. 15.  Repairs were estimated to cost P160 million, which Davide said the province does not have.

He said the province has many options on what to do with the property. I could give up the CICC entirely or it would tie up with public or private institutions; it depends on which venture would benefit the province the most.

“Tan-awon nato (Let us see) how much the province can really earn in the long term. Kay sa una man gud wa pa maguba ang CICC, alkanse man gyod ang probinsya ana. Kasagaran sa mga mogamit diha mangayo’g discount. Ang diskwento, ang probinsya maoy mo-subsidize (Because before, the CICC was operating at a loss because of discounts that the province end up subsidizing),” he said.

Davide made the statement after he was asked on how the Capitol plans to go about repairing the facility.

The Province of Cebu and Mandaue City Government, as members of the CICC Management Board, have yet to decide which among three options would be resorted to in repairing the facility.

The first option was a public-private partnership scheme for the repair and operations of the CICC; second was seeking national government aid since Cebu would be hosting a number of international events in the future, like the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation conference next year and the International Eucharistic Congress in 2016.

The third option the CICCMB is considering is for Mandaue City to purchase facility.

The Cebu Provincial Government owns the CICC but Mandaue City owns the lot where it stands.

Davide said he has requested the Mandaue City Government to formalize its interest to buy the CICC.

The CICCMB would come up with a decision during its next meeting next week.—/RHM (FREEMAN)