Thursday, July 19, 2007 Mandaue fails to give P5M share for CICC
FOR the past six months, the Mandaue City Government has not been giving its P5 million share for the upkeep of the Cebu International Convention Center (CICC).
This was learned during a meeting yesterday among members of the CICC Management Board, which is headed by Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia and co-chaired by Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes.
The P5 million should have been deposited to a trust fund for the operational expenses of the facility, as agreed by the Cebu Provincial and Mandaue City Governments last year.
Cortes said he was shocked when he learned about the development, adding that he was not aware that the City has not fulfilled its obligation.
Sad
“It’s so sad but rest assured we will give the P5 million,” Cortes said after the meeting.
The mayor, however, asked the governor to bear with city officials as they are still evaluating the financial status of the city.
Cortes also thanked the governor yesterday for the CICC, saying the facility is the “catalyst of progress” in the city.
He said that after he assumed office, several investors came to him and expressed interest to put up businesses near the CICC.
Aside from the mall that will soon rise near the CICC, a hotel will also be built.
Also yesterday, the Philippine Exhibits and Themeparks Corp. (Petco), which is currently managing the CICC, suggested that the CICC be developed into a leading exhibition center.
Petco’s Jose Yulo said it is in exhibitions where the money is.
P5M in 6 months
In his presentation, he said the CICC has earned more than P5 million for the first six moths of this year, excluding earnings from the Asean Summit and the Philippine Councilors’ League convention.
Of the P5 million, more than 50 percent of the income came from the exhibitions held at the CICC.
Garcia admitted they will soon be enhancing the CICC, the expenses of which will come from the Province.
On Friday, Petco, architect Manuel Guanzon and representatives from the Province will meet to discuss on the plan to enhance the facility. (MBG)
