All ready and dressed up for the ASEAN Summit!

It’s less than a week to Cebu’s hosting of the 12th ASEAN Leaders’ Summit and from the way things are going, all is set for this historic event, including the holding of the meetings at the very controversial Cebu International Convention Center (CICC) which no one believed would ever be completed on time. On hindsight, the whole controversy stemmed from the self-imposed deadline called for by its architect, Manuel Guanzon, that he would finish this edifice by Nov. 15. In truth, Architect Guanzon missed his self-imposed deadline and if there were any takers of his P1.5-million bet that he could finish it on the allotted time, he’d be P1.5 million poorer!

But as of the last ocular inspection… let me say that the CICC is good and ready to be used for the ASEAN Summit… no thanks to many Cebuano crabs, especially in the media, who relentlessly criticized the building of the CICC, perhaps hoping deep inside their hearts that it would not be completed so they wouldn’t look or sound like idiots for not believing in the Cebuano’s "can-do" spirit.

While the construction of the CICC made big headlines, even in the national newspapers, another government-owned edifice also for the use of the ASEAN Summit was being constructed at the Mactan Cebu International Airport (MCIA) and last Monday, the proud MCIAA general manager, Danilo Francia, formally led the blessing of this brand new VIP facility, where all foreign dignitaries would pass through after they disembark from their presidential planes.

All told, this facility for VIPs took only 87 days from the first nail to its blessing yesterday. Because there was no fanfare or any controversy over its construction, this facility was finished in record time, a mute testimony that after all, government projects can be completed in such a manner. Yes, if you have to ask, while this facility was done in a mad rush, while the CICC was already halfway complete, it was still bid out to various contractors.

I attended the blessing yesterday noon, although I missed meeting Gov. Gwen Garcia who had to leave for another meeting. Perhaps the only thing lacking in that facility was the asphalting of the 20-meter portion of the road linking it to the main airport road. Of course, GM Francia couldn’t have done it without the help of the team led by airport operations head Romy Bersonda. This coming Friday, Dec. 8, is the Feast of the Immaculate Conception and yes, Gov. Garcia will formally bless the CICC and turn it over to Malacañang for the use of the ASEAN Summit.

Indeed, all these facilities were done in great haste, but what put it all together, aside from the hard work that the National Organizing Committee members put in, were the prayers being said from as high as his eminence Ricardo Cardinal Vidal to the lowly faithful who wanted Cebuanos to put their best foot forward to make the ASEAN Summit a complete success.

I have lived in Cebu City all my life and the other night during the dinner in the residence of Mayor Tomas Osmeña (I never fail to be there, especially when the mayor is the one cooking), we told him that never in Cebu’s history has she blossomed into a beautiful city that we’ve always believed she was. For years, Cebu was akin to a pretty girl: dirty, unkempt and without any makeup. Today, she is very clean and well dressed and more than ready to play hostess to our foreign guests.

Like what I wrote before, there are only two other major events in Cebu’s history where she prepared herself for her foreign guests — on April 27, 1965 during the 400th anniversary of the Christianization of the Philippines and then in 1981 during the visit of the late Pope John Paul II. Thanks to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (GMA) for giving Cebu the opportunity to play host for the Philippines. I’m more than sure that Cebu’s hosting of the ASEAN Summit will be a stunning success!

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In his eulogy for our late friend and mentor Max Soliven, our good friend Babes Romualdez said the last message Sir Max gave him was "Keep the fire burning, Brother!" Reading last Monday’s editorial of The Star entitled "Promoting the Welfare of the Disabled" reminded me of the crusade of former STAR co-founder and columnist Art Borjal, who fought for the rights of PWDs or persons with disabilities.

My sister, Adela A. Kono, vice chairwoman of the Regional Council for the Welfare of Disabled Persons (Region 7), also in the forefront of this campaign as she got polio when she was two years old, is a feisty fighter for the rights of PWDs. Thanks to The Star for stoking the fire that Art Borjal ignited when he was still alive. I will be writing more about PWDs in future columns.

Meanwhile, last Monday afternoon I got a call from Dr. Jose "Pepe" Abueva who told me that he liked our column that day… and that he agreed with me that a shift to a parliamentary form of government without the balancing factor of federalizing states would make Imperial Manila ever stronger and more dangerous to remove from power. In the end, this is exactly what we are trying to avoid… someone clinging to power even if the electorate no longer wants him to stay in power.

Like what we wrote, Speaker Jose de Venecia is out to prove that he is a "political magician" who could pull out a new constitution from his hat in less than 15 days. That new constitution isn’t going to make the Philippines a federal state, but like a good old politician, we are getting only a "promise" of federalism from JDV and as we know about politicians, they are great in breaking their promises!

The other reason why Dr. Pepe Abueva called me was to ask for a copy of my interview with Sir Max Soliven, which we replayed (we did this for the Cebu Press Freedom Week last September 2004) last Thursday and Friday on SkyCable. Dr. Abueva saw that interview, which was never seen in Metro Manila, and asked me for a DVD copy so he could use it for his school of journalism and politics. Indeed, a lot of our friends saw that interview with Sir Max, who was in perfect health two years ago. Many televiewers sent me text messages after seeing the replay, saying that Sir Max was a great loss to our country. Yes, and a personal loss for me as well.

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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.