The bid of the Mandaue City government led by Mayor Jonas Cortes to acquire control of the mothballed Cebu International Convention Center (CICC) has gained traction after a burglary occurred in the facility last week.
Built in 2007 by the Cebu provincial government for the 12th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit at a cost of P800 million, the CICC is in the center of graft charges involving former governor and now Cebu 3rd district Representative Gwendolyn Garcia.
As if the low priority given to the CICC after Gov. Hilario “Junjun” Davide III took over the Capitol in 2010 was not enough, a 7.2 magnitude earthquake struck Cebu in October 15 last year, causing even more damage to the facility.
The cost of repairs and upgrade was pegged at P200 million, practically sealing Gov. Davide’s resolve to sell it to interested buyers. In his State of the Province Address last July, Gov. Davide reiterated his disinterest in the facility, saying his administration will not spend “one peso more” on top of the P800 million.
The Mandaue City government is serious in buying the CICC but negotiations had been rather slow, until burglars carted away truckloads of relief goods from the facility last week. The CICC was being used by the Department of Social Welfare and Services as storage for donations from national and international donors. Capitol had to deal with issues related to neglect and concerns on why the provincial government up to now has not completed the bidding for a security agency contract. It’s not just the lack but the vacuum in security that places Gov. Davide in a tight fix.
Meanwhile, the incident has further pushed the area around CICC as, to use the jargon of urban planners, “below the line,” one in which people don’t want to visit or even look at. That it is not only a source of blight but also a symbol of security breach makes the CICC a potential issue against Gov. Davide in 2016.
It’s good to hear that Gov. Davide is fast-tracking negotiations with Mayor Jonas Cortes. Capitol’s tag for the blighted structure is P600 million while Mandaue City is keen to pay only P200 million. Mandaue City plans to establish the Mandaue Investments Promotions Action Center to showcase local culture and products in a business venture to be managed by the Mandaue Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
I support this idea because it is in harmony with the government service called public-private partnership (PPP). I hope Gov. Davide looks not just at the tender of P200 million but Mandaue City’s attachment of a clear and well-studied revitalization plan of CICC, one that merges well with the over-all strategy to make Cebu a tourism and investment hub.
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By God’s grace, Co-op TV premiered last Saturday (August 2, 2014) over CCTN Channel 47. The debut episode featured ICTUS Premier Co-operative, a unique and trailblazing people’s organization based in Surallah, South Cotabato.
The journey of ICTUS Premier was documented in 2012 to mark the International Year of Cooperatives through a project initiated by VICTO National federation. I helped develop the project together with then CEO Mercedes Castillo who commissioned me to anchor “A Story Worth Telling”, a compilation of stories of remarkable co-operatives with best practices.
I never thought the project will evolve into a TV show. Although I had been toying with the idea, the push to produce Co-op TV came in 2013 after I presented the project in a workshop of the elite training course, Philippine Development Educators PhDE.
Development Educators or DE is an elite course authorized by the National Credit Union Foundation. What we call cooperatives are credit unions in the United States. Out there, the movement of credit unions recognizes NCUF as the principal national charitable fundraising organization for credit union development.
In the US, the DE training has been around for more than 30 years and has benefited countless credit union professionals and organizations.
From what I gathered, the course came to the Philippines in 2005 through VICTO National which integrated the training in the context of Philippine cooperatives.
Under the guidance of NCUF and National Association of Business Cooperatives (NCBA), PhDE has turned out more or less 300 DE graduates and among those that benefited from the course is none other than ICTUS Premier Cooperative. The DE offspring came in the form of a business venture, the Mountain Lake Eco-Resort in Lake Sebu, South Cotabato. It is a resort facility powered by solar energy.
When I took the course last year, I had the privilege of meeting NCUF director Anthony LaCreta and NCBA chieftain Mike Beall. I should mention too that the PhDE is captained by VICTO National’s Dudz Samson whose flair and genius make the course a nucleus of co-op learnings and creativity.
A PhDE reunion is set to happen next month and given the amazing developments in the Co-op movement in Cebu, I am thrilled to think that the queen city of the south is fast becoming a hub of co-operatives.
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