Monday, December 11, 2006 Mongaya: Right decision By Anol Mongaya Panahom
THE Philippine government apparently wanted to treat our Asean visitors to a leisurely four days beside a sunny beach at the plush Shangri-la’s Mactan Island Resort & Spa and neighboring resorts.
Thus the giant tents put up in nearby Portofino where several summit sessions will be held. The grounds at the Shangri-la were also filled with tents. The heads of states and their ministers were expected to gently stroll around while talking about official business.
But typhoon Seniang, though it was a relatively weak storm in Metro Cebu, spoiled our preparations. The tents were not intended to shield our visitors from strong rains and winds but from the sun.
Aside from the safety issue during the flights to Cebu, it would have been doubly difficult transporting our visitors from one hotel to another with Seniang’s rains.
Besides, leaks were discovered inside the Cebu International Convention Center (CICC) that needs further finishing touches. I gathered that many of the sessions will now be transferred to the CICC come January.
The postponement was the right decision, I believe. Moreover, the summit will be held a week closer to the Sinulog, which is the biggest festival in Central Philippines.
The additional month should now be devoted to perfecting our preparations up to the smallest details from the venue, the procedures and the proposals we will be presenting.
Though Seniang drenched Metro Cebu, it should not dampen our spirit to present Cebu’s best.
***
The typhoons that hit the country apparently have not dampened our upbeat tourism officials.
In a text massage, Tourism Secretary Ace Durano said, “Seniang caused a skip in our beat but we didn’t lose our rhythm. The combined marketing network of the Department of Tourism (DOT) and the private sector is in high gear to maximize the remaining weeks of the year. Though Seniang disrupted tourism traffic in Cebu and Boracay, our top two destinations, we will still achieve nine-10 percent increase in foreign tourist arrivals this year or 2.8 million tourists.”
This is definitely good news from the young Cebuano workhorse in President Arroyo’s Cabinet. Secretary Durano obviously has been doing the right things at the DOT to be able to achieve what his predecessors did not.
***
I don’t think the political storm in Manila was a consideration in the decision to reset the summit to January though it was a blessing in disguise. President Arroyo now has time to deal with the charter change controversy.
It is now obvious that the public and major civil society players especially the church and big business were against charter change, which the Lower House under Speaker Joe de Venecia wants to ram down our throats through a constituent assembly.
The brewing political storm prompted Malacañang to distance President Arroyo from the Con-Ass move. This also pushed de Venecia to retreat with his constitutional convention stand.
With JDV’s retreat and the con-con proposal, I expect the anti-cha-cha movement to lose steam. Besides, after this week, everybody in the Philippines will be celebrating Christmas parties left and right. They won’t join further calls for rallies.
(superbalita@sunstar.com.ph or anol.blogs.friendster.com/anols_blog)
