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Wednesday, February 22, 2006
Arroyo, Pacquiao get top billing in Charter Day fete
By Linette C. Ramos
CEBU CITY -- A crowd of some 12,000 is expected to join the 69th Charter Day revelry at the Cebu City Sports Center Wednesday night, which President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and boxing champion Manny Pacquiao will attend.
Mayor Tomas Osmeña announced that after all the changes in the schedule, Pacquiao confirmed he will be able to make it to the event and accept the mayor’s special award.
The three-hour program and awarding ceremony will be open to the public and will be aired live nationwide and in some countries across Asia, the Middle East, Australia and the United States.
In his news conference Tuesday, Osmeña also announced he will place full-page advertisements in national dailies today to invite the public to watch a “very colorful and very grand” show on TV, which will feature some 1,130 dancers, including First Lady Margot Osmeña and Governor Gwendolyn Garcia.
Tonight’s production number will serve as the City’s dress rehearsal for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) summit, which the city will host in December.
“The way the ad was prepared is more like promoting a show rather than a formal event that is the Charter Day because nobody would be interested in that. We might as well leave an impression with the rest of the country that we are prepared (for the Asean),” Osmeña said.
Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Secretary Alberto Romulo and Undersecretary Frank Benedicto, who leads the local preparations for the summit, were also invited to witness the activities.
City Government officials and employees and barangay officials are also expected to attend the event.
The P2.8-million production number will go as planned, Osmeña said, despite the tragedy that struck St. Bernard town in Southern Leyte.
While he sympathizes with the landslide victims, the mayor said he also cannot just drop everything, especially since it is the City’s obligation to prepare for the summit.
“With all due respect to what some people suffered, we’re not doing this to degrade them. I think we’ll just have to move on, we can’t stop this now,” he told reporters.
“It’s not going to undo anything. If it will bring back even half a life, fine, we will stop everything but this is one of our assignments for the Asean summit,” the mayor continued.
At 5 p.m. Wednesday, 20 outstanding institutions and individuals will be given their awards before the mayor delivers his Charter Day message.
The live telecast will start at 7 p.m. when the mayor confers on the President that “Anak sa Sugbo” award and the Mayor’s Special Award on Pacquiao.
Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal and former Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr. will also be given the Rajah Humabon Lifetime Achievement Awards. (Sun.Star Cebu)
(February 22, 2006 issue)
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