The Cebu provincial government is optimistic that the Office of the Ombudsman will give a favorable response to its request involving the idle Cebu International Convention Center (CICC).
Lawyer Orvi Ortega, provincial legal officer, said the Province needs to ask permission from the Office of the Ombudsman before the national government can begin rehabilitating the property.
Last week, Capitol wrote to Deputy Ombudsman for the Visayas Paul Elmer Clemente. A copy of the letter was also furnished to Mandaue City Jonas Cortes.
The CICC, a province-owned facility in Mandaue City, is presently the subject of a case pending before the Ombudsman involving then governor Gwendolyn Garcia for being allegedly overpriced. It was built purposely for the Asean Summit in 2007.
After a 7.2-magnitude earthquake shook Cebu and damaged the property in 2013, the building could not be used.
Recently, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) expressed interest in setting up a Center for Industry and Trade Exposition within the facility.
In Gov. Hilario Davide III’s letter to the Deputy Ombudsman dated July 6, he said that both the Province and Mandaue City, as owners of the CICC and the land on which it stands are interested in the proposal of the national government.
Davide also asked the Office to send a team to conduct an ocular inspection and take photographs of the CICC.
The said this will serve the purpose of preserving the physical evidence in connection with the pending cases.
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