Saturday, September 23, 2006 Be hospitable, Cebuanos told By Linette C. Ramos Sun.Star Staff Reporter
Ordinary citizens will have a role to play when Cebu hosts the Asean summit in December: that of hospitable, warm and friendly citizens who will help ensure that delegates will be safe and happy in Cebu.
Ambassador Marciano Paynor, secretary general of the 12 Asean summit national organizing committee, urged the public to cooperate in making the summit a successful event.
“We have to make sure that nothing untoward happens to the heads of the state and the rest of the delegates during the summit. It is in this aspect that the responsibility is not mine alone, but each and every citizen’s. It is our collective responsibility to see to it that the summit is successful,” Paynor said yesterday.
Paynor was in Cebu to speak during the panel discussion on “The Asean Challenge: Covering the big stories that matter in the 12th Asean summit” at the Marcelo B. Fernan Cebu Press Center.
Positive news
During the briefing, he also urged members of the local media to adopt a paradigm shift in the way news reports are presented, from having “a culture of violence” to reporting more of the positive developments in relation to the summit preparations.
Although they agreed that positive stories should also be highlighted, editors from two local dailies said certain issues should also not be ignored, such as transparency in government spending in relation to the summit.
Paynor briefed the local media on what to expect during the four-day Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) summit, which will be attended by the 10 member-countries and their eight dialogue partners.
Among other multilateral agreements, the delegates are expected to come up with a document on energy security, which is seen to promote greater cooperation among member-countries in the development of alternative power sources.
The Cebu Declaration or the blueprint for the Asean Charter is also expected to be approved during the summit proper and transform the Asean into a more formal organization.
Ordinary citizens, the government and private sector should continue to work together to benefit from the immediate and long-term effects of the holding of the summit here, said the ambassador.
The tourism and business sectors will directly benefit from the event, he pointed out.
Foreign media
Cebuanos should also take advantage of the presence of some 2,500 foreign media representatives in December, by seeing to it that the delegates’ stay here is pleasant and memorable, Paynor said.
At the end of the summit, he pointed out, the leaders and members of delegations may not remember every detail of their discussions during the meetings, but it would be good if they remember the hospitality of the people and how they enjoyed their stay here.
“This should be our focus in our preparations, to ensure that the leaders and delegates leave Cebu and remember it as one of the best places they’ve ever been to in a multilateral conference,” he said during the forum.
