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Thursday, November 16, 2006
Convention center gets 14 days more, till Nov. 30th
By Minerva B. Gerodias
CEBU CITY -- The contractors will need at most 14 days starting Thursday to completely finish the Cebu International Convention Center (CICC).
Wednesday was the self-imposed deadline of the Capitol to finish the P450-million facility, which will be the main venue of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) Summit next month.
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The building is 100 percent finished but finishing touches and retouches need to be done, said Project Monitoring Office (PMO) head Ernesto Viernes.
"Nahuman na ang building ug nag-retouching mi. Way building nga mahuman og Nov. 15 unya manguli na ang mga tawo. Naa na sila kay maghimo ug retoke (The building is done and we are doing retouching)," architect Manuel Guanzon said during Wednesday's visit at the CICC.
The retouches include painting work and reinstallation of damaged ceilings.
When asked about his P1.5-million bet that the CICC will be finished by Nov. 15, Guanzon said in jest, "Ako lang tong ibangka sa media kay wa man nidawat (I will use it to treat the media because nobody accepted the bet)."
Former senator John Osmeña took Guanzon's bet but he set conditions that were untenable. Viernes said that by Nov. 23, all the finishing touches and retouches will be done.
They will start rolling out the carpet, which is about 5,000 square meters, the next day. It will take at most six days.
The tile works is already 99.5 percent complete, brick works at the parking lot and driveway is already finished, while the brick works at the flag area is 95 percent complete.
The landscaping is 98 percent complete, while the electrical connections are 90 percent finished.
The water feature at the lobby is already finished while the fountain in front of the building will be finished by next week.
"We have very, very substantially completed the facility considering the very short time that we have been given. This is in fact a monumental feat and the Cebuanos have shown what they are capable of," Governor Gwendolyn Garcia said Wednesday.
After the inspection, she visited Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal to apprise him of the status of the CICC and to thank him for praying for the success of the construction as well as for the Asean summit.
"I am convinced it will be finished. That's what we're praying for every after mass," the cardinal said.
Vidal said he was surprised by the reports that came out since, from the pictures the governor showed him, he saw that the facility is ready.
He hopes to visit the CICC soon.
"I think we, Cebuanos, should always be aware that in the last analysis, we will be the beneficiary (of the CICC). It's a feather on our cap," he told reporters. "The whole Cebuano family will benefit from this one."
Garcia had said that she set Nov. 15 as deadline to give time to do the corrections, which is normal for every construction.
By Nov. 30, she said the facility will be complete up to the "last blade of grass."
As to the report that the CICC will no longer be used for the summit, Garcia criticized the media outlets that carried the headlines that the summit was moved to Shangri-la's Mactan Island Resort, when the same story contained the denial of the source on the transfer of venue.
"If he has already corrected that report, I still wonder why the headlines read that it was still moved.... All of this media frenzy about the CICC has given us a very clear picture of just how responsible or irresponsible the press can be," Garcia said.
Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita called up the governor Wednesday to clarify the reports about the change of the venue.
Razon was quoted by foreign media as saying that all the activities of the summit will already be held in Shangri-la because of the concerns of some foreign delegates that the CICC might not be finished.
However, Razon, when sought for clarification, said he was just misquoted by the foreign media.
Ermita said the events in the CICC have actually been increased from 86 to 91.
He said a change in venue was never discussed in Tuesday's Cabinet meeting, which mostly tackled the preparations for the Asean summit.
However, he said "you can be very sure that for such a very big undertaking, that there is always Plan B. For a big affair like that, there is surely a Plan B but definitely the Asean summit will push through."
In a separate interview, an official from Shangri-la's Mactan Island Resort said they "cannot accommodate" all meetings of the 12th Asean summit if scheduled activities at the CICC will moved to the resort.
"We don't have enough rooms to accommodate all the meetings due to limited space and manpower," said Shangri-la's director of communications Sharon Samarista.
Samarista said "important meetings" will be held in the resort but declined to give further details.
She said Shangri-la "is ready" for the summit. The resort has recently upgraded its facilities, including the renovation of its 188-room Ocean Wing.
The resort will still maintain the same number of security personnel, but both the Philippine National Police and the Presidential Security Group will take "center stage" during the summit, Samarista said.
Garcia clarified that from the start, it was never claimed that all of the activities will be held at the CICC because there are other venues for the more than 90 meetings in Cebu.
She also criticized a broadcaster "who claimed that not one minister will set foot on the CICC."
"I will not even try to dispute him because he seems to speak with such authority and with finality. He probably may have already replaced Ambassador (Marciano) Paynor (as head of the national organizing committee)," she said.
"To the doomsayers, pwede usa di lang usa daghan ug yawyaw kay puno man lang ni sa pressure and it really does not accomplish anything productive. It just causes a lot of kuryente.... Give us a break. I'm not asking for much, but just one encouraging word. Ayaw lang duhaa kay basin it is too much to ask," she said. (With MMM/JECT of Superbalita)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Iloilo. (November 16, 2006 issue)
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