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Saturday, April 29, 2006
LGUs cannot touch P1B for Asean
Malacañang has set aside about P1 billion for the Asean summit in December, but local government units LGUs) in Cebu that are helping in the hosting will get a share of the budget directly, a top government official said yesterday.
Interviewed after their meeting with President Arroyo yesterday at the Mactan air base, Ambassador Marciano Paynor Jr., presidential assistant for foreign and state visits, said the LGUs “are using their own budget and they’re supportive of the efforts of the National Government.”
“In fact, they welcome the holding of the summit here (Cebu) because it improves the economy, first of all. And with the number of foreign delegates, it’s in a sense free advertising for the Philippines,” Paynor said.
Earlier, Mandaue City Mayor Thadeo Ouano said that based on reports, the cities of Cebu and Mandaue will get P200 million each, so he wanted to know when the funds will be released.
However, Paynor said that any budget intended for the preparation of the summit is a national budget and there is none for LGUs.
“It’s just so happen that we are holding the summit here. The chairmanship of the Philippine Government over this summit is from August 2006 to August 2007. There will be 103 various meetings, about half of them will be here (Cebu) and because the summit will be here, we are concentrating on Cebu,” Paynor said.
The other meetings will also be held in Palawan, Boracay, Baguio and Davao.
Tourism Secretary Joseph “Ace” Durano earlier said the President had required national government agencies to reserve one percent of their budgets to raise P1.3 billion, the estimated cost of the summit.
The amount will be used mostly to improve roads in the cities of Cebu, Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu.
The Provincial Govern-ment’s contribution is the Cebu International Convention Center, which has a budget of P250 million from Capitol’s coffers.
Paynor also said that they are now confident Cebu has enough hotel rooms for the delegates from the 10-member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) and their invited leaders from seven other countries.
“I think we are on track as far as hotel rooms are concerned,” Paynor said.
Durano said they are supervising the renovations of the rooms for the heads of state so that these will meet international standards.
Presidential Chief of Staff Michael Defensor said that President Arroyo was impressed by the presidential suites of Marco Polo Hotel which she inspected Thursday night during the hotel’s grand opening.
Defensor also said the President looks at the private sector as a valuable partner in preparing for the summit.
“At this point, we are about 40 percent prepared to host the summit,” Paynor said, citing the strong support of the cities of Cebu, Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu and the Cebu Provincial Government. (EOB)
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (April 29, 2006 issue)
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