Finally, the eyesore that has become of the Cebu International Convention Center will hopefully be a thing of the past. This is my hope which I think others who have been to this historic edifice will agree with.
The site of the ASEAN Summit of 2007 had been left unattended and unrepaired by the provincial government under Gov. Hilario Davide III who refused to touch it on allegations that the edifice was riven with corruption when it was constructed during the term of Gov. Gwendolyn F. Garcia. The latter in turn filed a case against the former for neglecting his duty to maintain government assets to the optimum.
For me, a building or complex should not be punished just because of mere allegations of corruption an where the courts have yet to decide with finality. If that were so, then so many other government edifices and projects in this country should be left to rot pending court cases involving their construction, from classrooms to hospitals and even roads and bridges.
Fortunately, the owner of the property on which the CICC stands has seen fit to buy the whole complex for P300 million, which was finally completed the other day.
Sitting within the vicinity of Park Mall, Bai Hotel, Mandani Bay and a growing community of food outlets of all kinds, the CICC’s prime location and the price tag given by the province was nothing short of a bargain. And I must congratulate Mayor Luigi Quisumbing for pursuing the purchase of this property which will prove in the very near future to be a tremendous boost to the economic future of his city.
Following the final transfer of some fire victims still left in the compound, I believe the original plan of Mayor Quisumbing when he began negotiations with the provincial government two years back was to turn this complex in to a center of urban renewal. I would not be surprised if he will lease this property to a private company to develop it into a mixed-use complex.
This would have been an ideal site for the 20-storey Capitol building that Davide wants at the venerable old Capitol site. Mayor Quisumbing might as well adopt that plan, for there is as yet no historical marker on the CICC (that will come some 39 years from now, or about 50 years after the ASEAN Summit of 2007) to prevent him from doing away with the building or placing 17 more stories above it.
The province just lost an important prime asset in favor of Mandaue. Congratulations are in order therefore for this wise decision of the mayor.
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