P100 million payment for CICC due next week

CEBU, Philippines — The Mandaue City government has over a week to pay the final tranche, which is due on June 30, for the purchase of the Cebu International Convention Center.

Assistant Provincial Treasurer Manny Guial said the title of CICC will only be transferred to the city government once the latter pays the remaining P100 million.

Failure to pay on time would delay the transfer of title, said Guial.

The agreement inked between the city government and the province did not stipulate penalties though.

While the property is owned by the provincial government, the lot on which it stands on is owned by the city government.

In August 2017, the Capitol agreed to sell the 33,000-square meter CICC building for P300 million.

Under the agreement, the city government is enjoined to pay the amount in two tranches—P200 million in 2017 and the remaining P100 this month.

The first tranche was paid in January this year, which is past the expected payment date.

Guial said the huge chunk of the first payment was used for the renovation of the Cebu Provincial Hospital in Carcar City, southern Cebu.

The P100 million, on the other hand, will be put under the Capitol’s General Fund for other projects.

The approval to sell CICC to the city government also meant that the mutual agreement entered between the province represented by former governor and now Rep. Gwendolyn Garcia of Cebu’s 3rd district and the late Mandaue City mayor Thadeo Ouano last 2006 is immediately terminated.

When it opened in 2006, the CICC was the venue for the 12th Asean Summit and in 2007, the 2nd East Asia Summit was also held there.

But it was deemed inoperative following the damage the CICC structure sustained from the 7.2-magnitude earthquake that hit the provinces of Bohol and Cebu, and the super typhoon Yolanda in 2013.

This was a year after the Ombudsman recommended the filing of graft cases for alleged irregularities in the construction of the CICC against Garcia and six other Capitol officials.

Deputy Ombudsman for the Visayas Paul Elmer Clemente earlier said the pending cases involving CICC will not affect the rights of the province to utilize and sell the building.

Davide, then, said in 2013 that the province would not rehabilitate the CICC until the issue against the Capitol officials for alleged irregularities in the building of the CICC would be resolved.

Since then, no repairs had been done to the CICC.

At present, its grounds are made into a temporary relocation site for fire victims in Mandaue City. — KBQ (FREEMAN)