P-Noy shows interest in CICC improvement
Ombudsman’s approval required for any project
Plans to renovate the Cebu International Convention Center (CICC) have piqued the interest of President Benigno S.C. Aquino III.
Gov. Hilario P. Davide III said the president has been asking him for updates on a proposal to redevelop the convention center into an exhibition area for local furniture.
“The last time he came, during the groundbreaking (of the new Mactan Cebu International Airport passenger terminal building last July 29), he asked me again if we have come up with a costing already.
He is really following it up,” the governor said.
Davide said the CICC management board, which is composed of the provincial government and the Mandaue city government, will come up with the cost estimates by next week.
The Mandaue Chamber of Commerce and Industry had asked Aquino if it was possible to convert the CICC into an exhibit area. The facility sustained major damage from the October 2013 earthquake.
MCCI’s proposal has the support of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), which has been instructed to coordinate with the management board in transforming the CICC into the Cebu International Trade Exhibition Center (CITEC).
DTI will shoulder the cost of repairing only the building, not the whole complex, Davide said.
The governor said, however, that any improvement on the convention center will need permission from the Visayas Ombudsman, where a case involving the facility is pending.
“We cannot just proceed with anything unless we ask permission from the Ombudsman, even when its the president who is pushing for it,” he told reporters in a press conference yesterday.
The militant Bagong Alyansang Makabayan filed in 2007 a complaint against then governor Gwendolyn Garcia before the Office of the Ombudsman in the Visayas over the alleged “overpriced” construction of the CICC. The facility was the main venue for the Asean Summit in 2007.
Since the property is an object evidence in a pending case, asking permission from the Office of the Ombudsman is only part of “due diligence,” Cebu provincial legal officer Orvi Ortega explained.
Ethel Natera, provincial information officer, said that if the Office of the Ombudsman still has to conduct activities related to the case, then it has to do it before the proposal of DTI pushes through.
She said the pending case cannot keep the board from coming up with the cost of repairs to be forwarded to the national line agency.
As proposed by DTI, a portion of the building will be devoted to trade exhibits while other parts may be used for conventions, functions, and other activities.
The Mandaue city government earlier expressed its desire to purchase the property and turn it into the new city hall. However, the recent development involving the DTI has overtaken all options for the facility.
Disclaimer: The comments uploaded on this site do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of management and owner of Cebudailynews. We reserve the right to exclude comments that we deem to be inconsistent with our editorial standards.
