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Tuesday, August 01, 2006
Editorials: Summit only for a few days
It’s already August, and the Association of Southeast Nations (Asean) summit that Cebu will host is but more than four months away.
That’s not a long time considering the bar local governments set for the hosting.
Filipino hospitality, a trait that can be cursed if overdone, is behind the thinking that the best way to host the summit is to make Cebu look physically presentable.
How “presentable,” however, is the problem.
Sprucing up
Some local government units (LGUs) in Metro Cebu, for example, want to go all out in sprucing up their areas, even beyond their capacity to finance.
As a consequence, they are asking the also cash-strapped National Government to shell out money for the purpose—they were expectedly rebuffed.
LGUs that did not seek Malacañang’s help are funding their own summit-related projects, although there are fears other services may have been sacrificed in the process.
Other moves: government officials asking establishments along major thoroughfares to repaint the façade of their buildings, clearing the sidewalks of vendors or asking the vendors to wear Filipiniana costume, etc.
Making an impression
Apparently conscious of the condemnation of the Imeldific acts of old, there have been no reports yet of high walls being constructed to cover the view of squatter shanties.
Which is good, considering that while the Asean summit is a major event for Cebu, the reality is that it lasts for only a few days—as the visitors who come to the province because of it.
While there is a need to make an impression, this should be balanced with an objective appraisal of what the LGUs will get in return.
One good question: You spend millions of pesos and after the summit, then what?
Not ‘first world’
The reality is that Cebu, despite its economic gains, is still not “first world,” and it shows. This reality cannot be changed overnight.
Besides, summit participants are not ignorant of our “underdevelopment” and they are not probably even overly concerned about it.
What probably matters more to them is that the summit proceeds without hitch.
Warmth, concern
Thus, if Cebu really wants to make an impression during the summit, it should concentrate more on such basics as venue, security and transportation, among others.
And isn’t Filipino hospitality mainly about our natural warmth and concern, traits that, they say, money can’t buy?
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (August 1, 2006 issue)
Write letter to the editor.Click here.
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