CICC deal

Now that the ink had dried up in the deal signed between Mandaue City Hall and Cebu province over the Cebu International Convention Center (CICC), what prospects lie ahead for both of them?

For Mandaue City, it means fully assuming the property where the building stands and retaining whatever income will be earned from using that property. There are plans to put up a one-stop shop building in the CICC site.

It may not be visible on the surface, but there is some tension between the former administrations in Mandaue City and Cebu province over the CICC’s management and operation as well as whatever revenue had been generated from the building.

Rather than dwell on the past, Mandaue City Hall has some plans for the property aside from the one-stop shop building that will house regional and City Hall agencies.

A proposal by Mandaue City’s business community to convert the severely damaged CICC building into a showcase for the city’s exports had been floated, though we wouldn’t be surprised if the old structure is torn down and a new building is built from the ground up.

It is quite fortunate that Mandaue City Hall enjoys an amicable relationship with its business community, and a joint venture for the operation of a showcase center in the soon-to-be renovated CICC site may prove beneficial for the city and its residents.

The other party to the deal, the Cebu province, will use the P300-million payment to upgrade its hospitals. Again, Mandaue City Hall is fortunate for having a friendly governor sitting at the Capitol who is more than willing to drop the CICC claim despite a pending graft case filed against former Cebu governor and now Rep. Gwendolyn Garcia of Cebu’s 3rd District in relation to the structure.

The P300 million isn’t exactly a pittance, but the former Garcia administration would not have released its claim on the CICC and would have demanded more if push came to shove.

But again, what’s past is past, and both Mandaue City and the province are now faced with relocating the families who were displaced by the fires that struck their homes in Barangay Guizo last year and are now sheltered at the CICC grounds.

This is a lot more complicated since, as is usually the case, the families want to be relocated to where it’s convenient for them — that is, accessible to the schools where their children are enrolled in and their workplace for their livelihood.

But are the families in a position to demand from either local government for conditions in their relocation? More likely not, but a compromise that would enable all parties concerned to meet halfway can always be worked out.

The fact is, the old CICC site will soon be but a memory and in its place will rise whatever Mandaue City Hall and its constituents want it to be. The families should not be treated as an afterthought, and their plight should be addressed by the city government to ensure that they won’t be left behind.