Gearing up
Once again our humble province has been chosen to be one of the venues for an international event, the Asia-Pacific Economic Conference. Although these are just pocket meetings, we will still be receiving foreign delegates that will cast eyes on what our humble home has to offer.
I remember when the ASEAN summit and ASEAN games took place in Cebu a few years ago. It was quite a big thing then and our university was privileged to take place in the makings of it. Our string ensemble was given the task to serenade the families of the delegates. It was top caliber entertainment that they could not find elsewhere. They clapped, smiled and swayed to the Cebuano tunes. But then it was not all happy.
The ASEAN times in Cebu were also the moments that controversies sprawled everywhere. Who could forget the lamp posts that costs about a fortune? If we directly relate the price to the quality, it would not make any sense because months after the event these lamp posts would not even light up. The ordinary street lights were better.
This was also the time when the Cebu International Convention Center was built hurriedly so that there would be a venue for the event. It was finished, alright but they say it did not pass the standard. After the 2013 earthquake, the CICC has been severely damaged. It could not be used except for a warehouse for the province's relief goods.
Fast forward to the present, there have been changes that are quite visible in the three major cities that comprise the metro. Roads have been beautified and traffic schemes were changed in an instant. Security drills have been going on since then and the airport area has taken its toll in beautification ready to receive the new batch of visitors.
But then the reception of the citizenry was quite ballistic. For instance, Mandaue City's traffic scheme and its rerouting made a few motorists mad. If it were up to them, the new change did not solve the problem but rather it has worsened and the jam in the city has become eternal. Now hotel prices are ballooning with the defense that it is indeed peak season. A tourist spot in the heart of Cebu city is under rehabilitation and the children on the streets are being kept hidden from the limelight.
Is this how we gear up for an international event? Let's face it. These are all band aid solutions made and presented for the instant effect. There is no long term goal, no foresight of the implications it could have in the future. After the APEC meetings, we go back to the old Cebu and the old ways that we used to be very fond of. Why can't we look at other highly urbanized cities abroad and emulate them? There is so much we can do with all that we have. It only takes a mass of people to be determined that Cebu could be one of the best places on earth.
So another day passes, and the international event approaches. I could only snide at the possibility of tourists' reviews of how terrible we are. But on the brighter side is a glimmer of pride, knowing that our humble island, far off the capital is once again making a name in the foreign arena. Rock n' roll to the world, Cebu!
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