A preview of the 12th Asean Summit

As we expected, the dreaded dengue virus is back with a vengeance now that the rainy season is here. But then the problem really stems from the simple reality that we do not learn the lessons of the past. Surely by now, we know where the mosquitoes bearing the deadly dengue virus breed? In stagnant water. And where do we find stagnant water? In canals that are clogged or in used tires that are not thrown into the garbage dump.

Last week, my plane was on its final landing phase at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) and as the plane came closer to the ground, I saw something that very few people ever notice: The roofs of many shanties are held only by old tires. Yes, a lot of shanty owners do not nail their roofs or if they do, they still try to secure these tin roofs with old tires so that supposedly, they don't get blown off during a strong wind.

Right there you can see that many roofs have become the breeding grounds for the deadly dengue. While I was referring to the shanties around the airport in Manila, I'm pretty sure that we in Cebu are not much different from them. So I hope that this should trigger our Health Department to look into the roofs of most homes and if they find old tires, they should be immediately removed and thrown to the landfill.

* * *

What a way to start a new Rotary year for the new Presidents of seven Rotary Clubs, starting with the Rotary Clubs of Cebu (Mother), RC of Cebu Port Center, RC of Cebu West, RC of Mabolo, RC of Guadalupe, RC of Capitol North and RC of Cebu North who held a joint meeting at the Marriott Hotel to hear His Excellency Ambassador Marciano Paynor Jr. the Chief of Presidential Protocol and Secretary General of the coming 12th ASEAN Summit. With him was Ambassador Luis T. Cruz, Assistant Secretary Office of ASEAN Affairs.

I've been kept abreast of the ASEAN Summit, but the PowerPoint presentation by Amb. Paynor was quite comprehensive. It gave the Rotarians a clearer view of what to expect during this historic summit and its importance to Cebu in general. First of all, Amb. Paynor expressed confidence that all the projects for the summit would be finished at the allotted time, but assured his audience that the organizing committee do have their "plan B" or even a "plan C" options in case there's a need to call it.

When he presented the Cebu International Convention Center (CICC), he told us that it was really 45% in its construction phase. Of course, we don't see any building rising there right now simply because this building is made of metal and other similar structural materials and is being constructed already and will only be assembled on site.

When the CICC is finished, he assured the Rotarians that Cebu would now be a key player during ASEAN meetings. He revealed that there are at least some 150 meetings held by ASEAN every year, which is not part of the Summit itself and these meetings are held where the ASEAN Summit has been held in the past. During the ASEAN Summit itself, there would be 32 very important meetings during the week prior to the holding of the summit.

Aside from the 16 heads of States that would come to Cebu this coming December, there is a herd of staff people belonging to each government that would have to come to Cebu very much earlier than their leaders. Perhaps best of all, there would be around 2,000 international media who are expected to cover this international event, and it is for this reason why we Cebuanos should put our best foot forward! Cebu would be in the limelight!

During the open forum, the questions mostly were about the relevance of the ASEAN Summit to Cebu and what we can get out of it. Amb. Paynor did not mince his words nor hid his elation that Cebu would greatly benefit from our hosting of the ASEAN Summit. Indeed, in the past, all international events were held only in Manila, hence we've always complained that the world only sees Manila as the Philippines and the Philippines as Manila. Perhaps with the 2,000 journalists covering this Summit, they would see a different face of the Philippines and that other face is the face of Cebu! Amb. Luis Cruz who spoke briefly assured the Rotarians when he said, "I am upbeat to what would happen in Cebu during and after the Summit!"

On security arrangements, Amb. Paynor assured us that this is being done now and on top of this is retired Maj. Gen. Leo Alvez (no wonder he had to stop playing golf) who worked with Amb. Paynor during the APEC Summit in Subic in 1996. With the experience of these two gentlemen, we can look forward to a successful hosting of the 12th ASEAN Summit.

* * *

For email responses to this article, write to [email protected].