ASEAN Summit puts Cebu on the spotlight

Intense anticipation and boiling intrigue pigmented the road to the 12th Association of Southeast Asian Nations Summit and organizers of the event had every reason to frown when a typhoon blew the summit away from its original schedule last month.

Just two days before the summit was supposed to formally start on December 11, the National Organizing Committee announced it had to postpone the four-day event on account of Typhoon Seniang, which some suspected was a lame excuse rescheduling a major international event.

Even before the postponement was announced at the Cebu International Convention Center (CICC) in Mandaue City on December 8, the local and international media that waited for the press briefing were already receiving unofficial information about the postponement and that the same was triggered by the political storm brewing in Manila.

During the open forum, a foreign reporter even asked a leading question to this effect but Ambassador Marciano Paynor, Secretary General of the NOC, stood firm that the typhoon was the only reason for the postponement.

"Categorically, I will state that the postponement is due to the typhoon alone," Paynor said.

Incidentally, the postponement came just a day after the United States, Britain and Australia issued warnings of a threat of terrorist attack in Cebu during the summit, although the warnings did not necessarily say that the threats had anything to do with the summit itself.

"After serious consideration of the possible effects of the projected incoming whether disturbance, the ASEAN-Philippines National Organizing Committee, in consultation with the national and local agencies involved, has decided to move the dates of the Cebu Summits," the NOC's official statement read.

Paynor said the postponement was one of the "most agonizing" decisions they had to make but they did not have any choice but to adopt such measure to ensure the safety of the heads of state, who were scheduled to arrive the same day that the storm was to hit Cebu.

At that time the postponement was announced, the province of Albay was still reeling from the effects of typhoon Reming (international code name, Durian), which left more than 1,300 people dead or missing after scores of villages were covered by volcanic mud that cascaded down the slopes of Mayon volcano.

In line with this, the NOC also said the decision was made to allow the Philippine government "to give its undivided attention to any effects this major weather disturbance may have on the parts of the Philippines it passes through."

But even if the ministerial meetings still pushed through that weekend, the national and international media that came to Cebu packed their bags the very day the postponement was announced.

The frustrated media companies besieged major hotels looking for some kind of refund. It was reported that 1,500 hotel rooms were booked for the summit with most of the guests booked with the required 50 percent down payment, which is non-refundable.

Marco Protacio, general manager of the Waterfront Cebu City Hotel and Casino and president of the Hotels, Restaurants, and Resorts Association of Cebu revealed that hotels had turned down several requests for booking in December just to prioritize the summit.

The local hotels reportedly invested millions to renovate their facilities for the summit and flew in executive chefs from other countries to prepare international cuisine for the delegates.

Even the augmentation force of about five thousand military and police personnel had to be flown back to Manila while things were at a lull.

Several local officials were dismayed with the postponement, among them was Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña, who believed that it was unnecessary to postpone the summit and that the NOC pushed the panic button too early.

And as if the postponement was not enough, the downpour that assaulted Cebu the next day painted an embarrassing picture of Cebu's onerous preparations for the summit when the roof of the brand new P500 million CICC leaked.

Governor Gwendolyn Garcia even attempted to put humor into the scene by saying the CICC "only leaks when it rains," but the attempt apparently failed to lift the gloomy atmosphere at the convention center.

Architect Manual Guanzon defended his design by saying it is but normal for new structures to spring leaks at the first rain and that the rain came just in time for the scheduled flood-testing on the 27,000 square-meter edifice.

Still, both Garcia and Guanzon did not consider the incident a setback but a chance for the organizing committee to add more improvements to the CICC.

Speaking before participants of the ASEAN Business and Security Summit who stayed in Cebu despite the storm, Garcia even announced that the provincial government may bid the CICC out to the private sector under the Operate Transfer Scheme, under which, the winning bidder would the one to operate the CICC under a contract that may last from 25 to 30 years.

Days later, new dates for the summit were floated but serious doubts still lingered on whether or not the summit could still be held this month. Observers said the heads of state no longer have the luxury of nine months lead to prepare and that they would have a lot of rescheduling to do in just a month.

But Paynor described the doubts as "misplaced" because the heads of state are exerting their best efforts to attend. He said that even before the postponement was announced, confirmation to convene was said to have been already in place.

"There was agreement, without exception, for all delegations to reconvene the earliest possible time at a time available to everyone," Paynor said, reinforcing Arroyo's earlier assurance that Cebu would still host the summit.

On December 20, The Freeman carried as its banner story the confirmation of 15 heads of state to attend the summit this month.

At that time, only India was yet to confirm, but Paynor said there were no indications that its prime minister would have any problem attending the summits.

Last week, for the first time since the event's postponement, Arroyo inspected the summit venues and expressed satisfaction over Cebu's readiness to finally host the event. Arroyo inspected the CICC and the newly built Most Important Person lounge at the Mactan-Cebu International airport.

The President believes the CICC is not only ready for the summit but also for other international events.

With Arroyo's nod and the confirmation of the summit participants, it may be safe to say that it is all systems go for summit on January 10.

With an event that promises to put Cebu and the Philippines in the international limelight, both organizers and common people are keeping their fingers crossed that no more postponements or man-made or natural calamities can take the summit away.