‘P1-B summit price tag worth it’

CEBU — Two Asian summits that wound up yesterday cost the Philippine government around P1 billion, but it was money well spent, a senior official said.

"We have not worked out the final numbers as yet but it should be around P1 billion," Marciano Paynor, head of the summit organizing committee said. "What did it buy us? Goodwill and good publicity."

The estimate covers both a hastily postponed meeting last month and a series of meetings over the past days.

The government had received criticism for postponing the meetings in Cebu. It cited an approaching typhoon, but foreign governments had issued warnings of terror attacks.

No security incidents were reported and meetings went off without major hitches during the twin summits.

The summit price tag includes luxury hotel accommodation for all 16 leaders, their senior ministers and the 10 members of the so-called ASEAN eminent persons group. National governments pay the cost of delegation members.

All landing and parking fees for official aircraft were waived and $6 million was spent on buying a fleet of luxury BMWs.

A local Honda dealership lent 31 sedans and the Development Bank of the Philippines 60 utility vehicles.

"I think the whole show went off better than most people had expected," Paynor said.

Some 2,300 delegates attended the summits, which were covered by more than 2,000 local and foreign journalists.

The biggest cost for the Cebu provincial government was the convention center, built in eight months. The cost doubled from P250 million to P550 million and the roof leaked when it opened last month.

Local critics see the project – plopped next to shanties in a largely poor area — as an expensive folly. But Cebu Gov. Gwen Garcia believes it was money well spent.

The center "will not become a white elephant... the governor will not let it happen," her spokeswoman Beth Francia said.

"Already we have conventions and exhibitions booked for the center going up to December. Our contribution to the summit was the CICC, which will have a long-term benefit for Cebu."

The cities of Cebu, Lapu-Lapu and Mandaue also contributed toward the cost of several days of hectic diplomacy, but figures have not been released.

Cebu City Mayor Tommy Osmeña threw a lavish party for the media — which included flamenco dancers, live bands and seemingly endless supplies of food and drink — at an estimated cost in excess of P800,000 .

But there was a bright side for local taxpayers — street lights were erected along main roads and the entire urban area got a wash and brush-up. — AFP