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Tuesday, January 09, 2007
Arroyo 'happy, upbeat' on Cebu convention center
CEBU CITY -- President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, in an unexpected visit Monday, was "happy and upbeat" about the Cebu International Convention Center (CICC), although the National Government was still working on last-minute changes in the assignment of rooms, Governor Gwendolyn Garcia said.
As in the original schedule, the heads of state and governments will be meeting at the Shangri-la Mactan, where their meetings with dialogue partners will also take place.
Sun.Star Network Online's 12th Asean Summit Watch
The leaders, however, will meet with the Eminent Persons Group at the CICC for discussions on the draft Asean charter.
An Agence France Presse report stated the CICC was apparently not ready for the summit yet because there were still workers and that there was no security at the basement.
"Di na ta motubag ana (We will no longer answer that). That's not us anymore. Whoever wrote that would have been more informed and less ignorant had they bothered to ask," Garcia said in a telephone interview.
Ministers and other senior officials of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) will start arriving Tuesday for the different meetings that will start Thursday.
Security
At least 40 of these meetings will be at the CICC in Mandaue City's reclamation area. The heads of states and governments will arrive on Friday yet.
Malacañang is taking charge of the arrangement of the CICC's interior and room assignments, as well as security.
Ambassador Victoriano Lecaros, spokesman of the 12th Asean summit, earlier stressed that the CICC is ready for the meetings.
The roof of the new P515-million CICC no longer leaked as it did after the postponement in December, the AFP report pointed out, "but workmen were still repairing and finishing much of the interior, just days before the summit starts on Thursday."
"With the front doors closed, cars were diverted to the basement, where security was non-existent. Bags were not searched, and IDs were only checked at the front gate," the report added.
"We are just finishing putting in an airconditioning unit for the ground floor and changing an exhibition hall into a meeting room for the summit," architect Manuel Guanzon told AFP. "The workmen will be finished tonight."
Bulldozed
As for the holes in the roof, he said they were repaired shortly after the cancellation. "The problem was that someone forgot to seal some glass panels," he said.
Sources say the President cited the need to improve the appearance of a bulldozed property behind the CICC.
Mayor Thadeo Ouano explained that the property was bulldozed even before preparations for the Asean Summit began.
Businessman Jack Gaisano is leasing the property but the City provided the bulldozers, he added.
Ouano wasn't able to join President Arroyo when she made a surprise visit at the CICC Monday afternoon.
Leaders of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam are to converge in Cebu this week for the summit.
Leaders from its six dialogue partners-Japan, South Korea, China, India, Australia and New Zealand-are also arriving for a meeting with the Asean leaders.
Holidays
Schools and government offices in Cebu will get a holiday on Friday, January 12, and Monday, because of the summit.
As one of the pre-summit activities, there will be an Asean standing committee dinner Tuesday night at the Shangri-la Mactan.
On Wednesday, Asean senior officials and the Asean standing committee will have lunch at the CICC, after which the senior officials of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam will also meet.
A special Asean senior officials' meeting will also be held at the CICC in the afternoon before the officials leave for the Shangri-la for dinner.
On January 12, Asean heads of states and governments will meet and have dinner with the Eminent Persons Group, which is composed of former presidents and former chairpersons of the Asean, at the CICC. (JPM/With AFP & AAG)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Cebu. (January 9, 2007 issue)
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