Paynor: Summit meetings would be held at the CICC

Ambassador Marciano Paynor Jr., the chairman of the 12th ASEAN Summit National Organizing Committee, said the Cebu International Convention Center will "really be used" for the said international gathering.

Amid fears of some sectors that the said infrastructure project may not be used for its intended purpose, which is as venue for the upcoming ASEAN Summit this December, Paynor has given his re-assurance during his onsite inspection of the said facility yesterday afternoon.

In fact, he said they would try as much as possible that the documents that will be forged during the said international event will be done at CICC.

"The signing of the charter, all the documents that need to be signed, we'll try to do it here," he told reporters yesterday.

As to reports that the only facility that will be used for the summit is the international media center, Paynor explained the foreign journalists are their principal clients from the very beginning when the construction of CICC was conceptualized.

Secondly, the CICC has been planned as meeting place for summit delegates - be it for the meetings of senior officials, prime ministers, or of the heads of states.

Yet, Paynor pointed out all of the events in relation to the said international gathering are very fluid so that they have yet to finalize as to where a particular event will be held.

"All of these are dynamics. In fact up to last week, the number of events continue to grow so we are now doing all of the adjustments and then at the end of the week, or within a week or so, we will be able to say where a particular event will be held," he said.

And although the ASEAN Summit organizing committee cannot be very specific about the details of the events, Paynor said one thing that is certain is that "definitely the meetings will be held here (CICC)."

When asked for his assessment on the progress of CICC construction, Paynor said, "There's been tremendous progress I must say in spite of the delays that we've experienced because, like what I've already said before, many of our delays here were not caused because of local issues." - Cristina C. Birondo/MEEV