A new deadline for the Cebu Convention Center

The ides of November, the deadline Architect Manuel Guanzon imposed on himself to complete the Cebu International Convention Center (CICC), which would be used for the 12th ASEAN Leaders Summit, has come and gone… and yes, for all intents and purposes, Architect Guanzon missed his self-imposed deadline and if that P1.5-million bet that he publicly offered to any takers was taken by former Sen. John "Sonny" Osmeña, then Sonny would be P1.5-million richer today and a lot of people would be asking him for their balato. However, there was really no final agreement or arrangement on how that bet would have materialized.

As for the CICC, I personally talked to Cebu Gov. Gwen Garcia last Wednesday and asked her whether the big news of venue change that came out last Nov. 15 in the papers was true or not. She could only sigh in frustration that media outlets like the Inquirer and Cebu Daily News would quote Police Deputy Director General Avelino Razon that the venue for the ASEAN Summit has been moved to Shangri-La’s Mactan Island Resort & Spa. Razon, the source of that report, is not a member of the National Organizing Committee (NOC) and was in no position to make any official statements for and in behalf of the NOC.

If you read that story thoroughly, you will notice that Razon already corrected himself, saying, "There will be events that will still be held at the Cebu International Convention Center (CICC) and at the Shangri-La." That means that the CICC would still be the venue for the ASEAN Summit. The same report further stated that a Malacañang source said the venue change would be known on Nov. 28. So why did the newspapers report that there was a venue change when this was not so? Ezz, a puzzlement!

A couple of weeks ago, we wrote that ABS-CBN also did a similar "misquote" when it quoted Cebu Vice Gov. Greg Sanchez about the change of venue even before the deadline hadn’t yet come. Back then, when ABS-CBN called Gov. Gwen Garcia and Ambassador Marciano Paynor for a clarification, they were told that there was to be no venue change. Yet ABS-CBN continued scrolling the headline that the venue has been changed. Irresponsible journalism part II?

Indeed, the Nov. 15 deadline has come and gone and there is no question that Architect Manuel Guanzon has missed his self-imposed deadline by a hairline and he has to thank his lucky stars that he still has a chance to meet a new deadline this coming Nov. 28 to finally turn over the facility to the NOC. If you looked from the outside, the CICC is already ready. But inside, what is needed is to put the carpets in place (you can’t roll out the carpets until all the work inside is finished) and install some lighting fixtures. With the ASEAN Summit scheduled on Dec. 10-14, there really is still material time to finish the CICC.

Meanwhile, a lot of radio commentators in Cebu were having a field day lambasting Architect Guanzon, some even suggesting that the CICC should not be used for the ASEAN Summit… just because it wasn’t finished in time for Guanzon’s self-imposed deadline. I say hogwash! Let me remind our readers that we are still a Third World country and since we don’t have enough money for our infrastructure, we shouldn’t waste whatever we have spent on the CICC simply because it can still be finished 20 days before the ASEAN Summit.

Meanwhile, this week Vietnam plays host to the Asia-Pacific Economic Forum (APEC) Summit in its capital Hanoi quite in time when they were just accepted into the World Trade Organization (WTO). So just like what we’re doing here in Cebu preparing for the ASEAN Summit, Vietnam has also put in their best foot forward, removing the filth and stench of everyday living and sprucing up Hanoi so that the leaders of APEC would see a clean and beautiful capital and have good memories of their visit. This is what we’re also doing in Cebu.

Being a communist state, Vietnam is doing its best to ensure that no untoward incidents happen while they are playing host to the APEC leaders. That means rallies against APEC or any APEC-related issues are prohibited. Honestly, rallies of any kind, be they environmental or political, are not allowed in this communist state, as freedom of speech is not the practice where communism thrives. But I gathered that our militant groups are planning to hold what they call a "Summit on the Streets." What in heaven’s name is it for we really don’t know.

So the question is, should we allow rallies to mar the historic ASEAN Summit? If you ask me, the organizers of the Summit, including the security groups, ought to rethink this one very carefully. We know how our militant groups operate and they would do their utmost to gain political coverage, especially that the international press would be in the Summit.

For instance, they bring children to the rallies so that when an altercation erupts and the police hose them down with water cannons, the children usually get soaked and what a great photo opportunity this would bring not just for our local media, but also for the international press. That’s because the real objective of our rallyists is really not to promote their causes, but to get their faces on the front-page news to show to the world how their rally was violently dispersed and embarrass the Arroyo administration before the eyes of our ASEAN neighbors.

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I’ve got two more e-mailed letters from our readers about that NAIA incident a couple of weeks ago. Here’s one of them in full:

"I’m an American citizen who just finished my first visit to Manila. Frankly, I was very apprehensive about my travel. I had visited other Philippine regions on previous trips — Cebu City, Bohol, Negros — but never Manila. I had heard horror story after horror story about NAIA and Manila taxi drivers and Manila generally.

"We flew into NAIA from Hong Kong. The international terminal was not luxurious but functional. The wait in the immigration queue was short and the agent polite and good-natured. We took many taxis and never had a problem, just as in Cebu City. We stayed two weeks in Malate and were very impressed with efforts to make the Malate, Manila Bay and Intramuros areas more livable, mostly clear sidewalks on many streets, few open sewers, some attractive streetlighting and good litter control. We had an excellent hotel and Malate restaurants were superior. It was only Manila’s horrible air pollution that seriously marred an otherwise enjoyable visit. Bob and Carol Hammerslag, [email protected]"

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For e-mail responses to this article, write to [email protected]. Bobit Avila’s columns in The Freeman can also be accessed through The Philippine STAR website (www.philstar.com). He also hosts a weekly talkshow, "Straight from the Sky," shown every Monday, 8 p.m., only in Metro Cebu on Channel 15 of SkyCable. Bobit’s columns can also be accessed at www.shootinginsidecebu.blogspot.com.