Wednesday, December 20, 2006 Editorials: Holding the summit in Cebu
DESPITE assurances made by the organizers, some people are still worried that Cebu won’t host the Asean summit when it will finally push through in January.
This is why some leaders are now talking about fairness to those who have already invested much for the holding of the summit here.
To recall, the summit was postponed under controversial circumstances.
Until now, speculations and rumors still abound on the reason or reasons behind the postponement after months of preparation littered with heated controversies and arguments.
One controversy involved the Cebu International Convention Center---whether it will be finished on time and whether it is worth the cost.
Another issue was the demand for Cebuanos to offer a measure of sacrifice with regards to their movement around the city, as certain thoroughfares were to be closed to traffic at certain times of the day during the summit.
Investment
In short, the Cebuano investment in “blood, sweat, and tears” was rather considerable.
Yet, despite this priceless moral and spiritual effort to make the historic international event a success and a credit to the Cebuanos as a people, the gathering ended up being postponed.
As a result, some people considered as flimsy the use of typhoon Seniang as reason for the postponement and believed that the terrorist threat and a brewing political storm were the more likely culprit.
Disappointment
What these show is that the aborted summit has generated a lot of disappointment.
To hold it elsewhere would therefore be like Cebu baking the cake for months and then letting someone else who never did anything do all the eating.
Such unfairness would be like pouring vinegar on a fresh wound.
Confirmation
Anyway, reports that the summit will push through are most welcome.
An example is the one that says that heads of state of Asean member nations have already signified to come.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, head of one of Asean’s dialogue partners, Japan, also confirmed his attendance.
Paynor’s vow
But will the summit be held in Cebu instead of Manila?
The hope is that Ambassador Marciano Paynor, who said that he is “500 percent” sure that the summit will be held in Cebu, will be proven correct this time.
