Cebu ready for the 12th ASEAN summit

I think Cebu is now ready and everything is in place for the 12th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) leaders’ summit here in Cebu next week.


All physical and security preparations, including the main venue, the Cebu International Convention Center (CICC), have been completed.
Assistant Secretary General for Media and Communications Milton Alingod said ASEAN’s national organizing committee will hold its first press conference at the CICC tomorrow. Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo will also brief the media on Dec. 8.
President Arroyo and other ASEAN leaders will use the venue for the first time on Dec. 10 for its meeting with the Eminent Persons Group, working on the ASEAN pro-democracy charter.
After the 6 -7 p.m. meeting, Mrs. Arroyo will host a dinner for the other ASEAN leaders at the CICC, he added.
Alingod and Philippine Ambassador to Kuala Lumpur Victoriano Lecaros, spokesman for the ASEAN summit, said the media and communication facilities had been put in place.
Alingod said the function rooms were undergoing "finishing touches," but the facilities for broadcast media had been completed.
The booths have been set up and some local television stations have started using the facilities, he added.
The computers and telephone lines for other members of the media were also being put up, Alingod said.
Lecaros said despite the limited time given to the Philippines to prepare for the event, it was good that authorities managed to pull through with the preparations.
All countries have at least two years to prepare for the top-level meeting, while the Philippines only had a year to do it after Myanmar declined to serve as ASEAN chairman and host of the summit due to political reasons, he added.
Lecaros said the heads of state and government and their delegations would be safe and secure as Marines, police, the Coast Guard and members of the Presidential Security Group had been deployed to ensure peace and order during the summit.
"The whole world is watching Cebu now," he said. "There are long- term benefits particularly in the tourism sector that Cebu and the country will gain from the event."
Central Visayas police commander Chief Superintendent Silverio Alarcio Jr., Cebu Task Force commander, said they would have to find ways for better traffic management since a "monstrous traffic jam" was experienced during the dry run in three cities last week.
The city mayors of Cebu, Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu would meet with other officials to discuss the matter, he added.
Alarcio has expressed confidence the problem would be solved easily.
"I see no major problems, except for the traffic," he said.
President Arroyo has declared a holiday in the cities where the events would be held to avoid traffic problems.
Several major thoroughfares will be closed when ASEAN leaders move from one venue to another during the four-day summit.