Wednesday, January 17, 2007 Paynor to be adopted son of Cebu
PHILIPPINE Ambassador to the Asean Marciano Paynor Jr. will be declared an adopted son of Cebu, for showing “the indomitable spirit of a Cebuano” in the course of preparations for the recently concluded summit.
“He has in so many ways shown love for Cebu. Many times he called on Cebuanos to rally for the success of the summit and by so doing, has proven he has the heart of a Cebuano,” said Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia yesterday.
Paynor and Garcia were co-chairpersons of the Cebu Organizing Committee (COC) for the 12th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) summit.
Paynor, when told about the governor’s announcement, said he would be very honored to be a Sugbuanon.
The governor said the ambassador’s “cool and calm stewardship” of the COC contributed “tremendously” to the success of the summit, which “will redound to Cebu’s collective pride and immeasurable gains for the future.”
Better
For his part, Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal urged local officials to preserve and improve on changes put in place for the summit.
“For while our guests deserve our utmost hospitality, our people deserve even more,” the cardinal said in his homily during the thanksgiving mass yesterday at the Cebu International Convention Center (CICC).
He pointed out that critics have been asking what good the summit has offered to the people “in concrete terms.”
“I say, look at our roads, look as this convention center, are these not concrete enough, in a literal sense?” he said.
But he also urged the officials to “take the initiative at our level, where we can exercise caring and sharing in our own communities,” referring to the theme of the recent summit.
“We can make our people’s lives better, summit or no summit. The key word is people, and as long as we have real persons at the heart of all our plans for development, our actions will never go to waste,” the archbishop added.
Relief
He revealed that he heaved a sigh of relief after the event ended Monday and thanked God for “sending His holy angels to guard Cebu during those days of the summit.”
Among those at the mass were Garcia, Paynor, Asean spokesman Ambassador Victoriano Lecaros, some members of the Provincial Board and the builders of the CICC.
Summit preparations have repeatedly brought Paynor to Cebu since early last year, when he began inspecting venues and meeting with local officials.
It was he who announced the postponement last December, which provoked various reactions and speculations as to the real reason. There were also suggestions from Manila reporters then to transfer the event to Manila.
Paynor told reporters that despite the feared shortage of rooms for the Asean because of the Sinulog visitors in Cebu, “solutions present themselves.”
“By keeping his faith even during the most difficult times, he has demonstrated the indomitable spirit of a true Cebuano,” the governor said.
Attention
Paynor is a graduate of the Philippine Military Academy, and served as the Philippine consul general in Los Angeles. He is a seasoned protocol officer, having served since the Ramos presidency (1992-1998).
The summit focused international attention on Cebu, albeit for four short days. But the media mileage that Cebu got in exchange was more than worth it, another official pointed out.
“If anybody wants to do an accounting of the expenses as against benefits, that (free media coverage) should be included,” said Ambassador Lecaros, who is also a Cebuano.
But not all the publicity surrounding the summit was good publicity.
Lecaros addressed yesterday the allegation that the government gave cause-oriented groups P5 million not to stage rallies during the summit.
“I have friends in cause-oriented groups even way back to my days at UP (University of the Philippines Diliman). I have no doubt that they are sincere in their causes and they don’t bargain for money,” he said. (JPM/MBG/EOB)
