ASEAN SUMMIT in CEBU

[grabehbebe]

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Asean summit venue nears completion — DFA official

The Department of Foreign Affairs yesterday said the the construction of the Cebu International Convention Center (CICC) is 90 to 95 percent complete for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) next month.
Victoriano Lecaros, spokesman for the Asean Summit, said this was the report submitted by Cebu Gov. Gwen Garcia last week.

“I just came back from Cebu and I saw the CICC four days ago. You will be happy to know that the infrastructure and installation of cables are already in place. Governor Garcia said the CICC is almost 90 to 95 percent complete (along with) other aspects of the preparation,” Lecaros told a press briefing at the Manila Hotel.

Lecaros said building furnishings will be installed shortly before the meetings.

Asean member-states, delegates and foreign media have earlier expressed apprehension over the completion of the convention center as meetings will formally start on Dec. 6. It will be capped by a summit from Dec. 10 to 13.

Asean groups are Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Joining them are leaders of dialogue partners Japan, China, Korea, Australia, India and New Zealand. Other officials from Timor Leste and France will also be present in the meeting.

Lecaros explained that a host country needs at least two years to prepare for the hosting of a summit and construction of a convention center.

“I saw the CICC last Thursday and the communication facilities are practically complete. The Filipinos have lost one entire year of preparation time, but 90 to 95 percent in 50 percent of the time is a good number,” he said.
The Philippines assumed the Asean chairmanship a year ahead of the schedule after Myanmar relinquished its chairmanship last year.

Manila took over the regional grouping’s chairmanship based on alphabetical rotation.

http://www.tribune.net.ph/nation/20061129nat5.html

[tolstoi]

WEEDMEISTER..no probs bro..btw I saw your photo ops (with the Hilton peeps) in TheFreeman yesterday..murag ready na gyud mo for this event :mrgreen:
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ASEAN ceremonial route to be closed twice on Friday, Dec.1

By Doris C. Bongcac
Cebu Daily News
Last updated 10:41am (Mla time) 11/29/2006

“Bare with us,” police officials appealed on Tuesday.

Cebuanos are being asked to keep their cool during the dry run for the 12th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit on Friday, December 1, when a 29-kilomter road stretch will be closed twice – once in the morning and again in the afternoon.

Senior Superintendent Lani-O Nerez, Central Visayas police deputy director for operations, said the ASEAN ceremonial route that covers nine major streets in the cities of Cebu, Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu will be closed from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m.

By 2 p.m., the ceremonial route will again be closed for two hours. It will be reopened to traffic at 4 p.m.

The ceremonial route stretches from Marco Polo Plaza Hotel and the Waterfront Cebu City Hotel to the Cebu International Convention Center in Mandaue City and Shangri-La's Mactan Island Resort and Spa in Lapu-Lapu City.

The affected roads are Veteran’s Drive, Salinas Drive, Juan Luna Ave. and S. Osmeña Ave. in Cebu City; United Nations Avenue, C.D. Seno Street, Plaridel Street and Ouano Ave. in Mandaue City; Punta Engaño Road in Lapu-Lapu City and the Marcelo Fernan Bridge.

Nerez said the road closures are expected to “stall” the flow of pedestrian and vehicular traffic in some intersections to give way to the security team.

“But day-long road closures may not necessarily be implemented during the dry run. As soon as the official convoy passes by, we may allow the use of the closed roads. Closure will again be implemented if the convoy returns,” he said.

Nerez said they have to “rehearse” their movements as they escort the leaders of ASEAN’s 10-member nations from the airport to their hotels. Another exercise will be done to simulate the movement of the foreign dignitaries from the hotels to the summit venues.

The security team will also practice their movements as they escort the spouses of the heads of state during the city tour that will include visits to the Family Park in Talamban, the Capitol building, Fuente Osmeña Rotunda, Colon St. and the Basilica del Sto. Niño.

“Like in any game, we need to practice and rehearse our movements. We may not perfect our summit preparations but we wanted to aim for perfection so we will be confident during the summit that we will be able to do our jobs right,” he said.

Nerez said motorcycle-riding policemen have been asked to drive around the ceremonial routes almost every hour as part of their route familiarization.

As a result, residents along Juan Luna Ave. have complained about the noise coming from their police sirens.

But Nerez said the sounding of the sirens was part of their “practice.”

“This early, the public must be able to picture what will happen during the summit,” he said.

While police perfect their security preparations, Cebu City councilors want to know how the dry run would affect the flow of traffic in the city.

Councilor Sylvan Jakosalem has asked Chief Inspector Jonathan Abella, director of the Cebu City Traffic Group and head of the summit traffic task force, to appear in Wednesday’s session to brief the council and officials of the affected barangays like Busay, Mabolo and Lahug of their preparations.

Jakosalem, committee chairman on transportation, said councilors had been bombarded with questions about the traffic re-routing that would be implemented during the summit.

Businessman Paulo Borromeo, who owns the BMW luxury cars that will be used as service vehicles for heads of states, also raised the same concern.

“We wanted to know the policies and guidelines that will be implemented during the summit and how will this affect especially those who are residing and those that own establishments along the ceremonial routes,” he said.

Many people he talked with worry about being late or absent for work due to road closures that will be implemented during the summit, Jakosalem said.

Some, he said, have already thought of going on leave during the summit.

“Most of the summit briefings are focused on security. There is also a need for a concrete plan and we have to inform the public so that there will be less inconvenience while we ensure the security of the heads of states,” he said. “There are too many questions but too little answers.”

According to Roberto Go, regional vice president of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, some businesses planned to cancel deliveries near the ceremonial route. Some retail establishments near the route had also volunteered to close down.

Some locators at the Mactan Economic Zone in Lapu-Lapu were preparing shuttle buses for their workers who were expected to get stuck as roads going to the zone would be closed for summit delegates.

Go said in an interview at the Regional development Council-Central Visayas meeting in Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental that exporters have also changed their working schedule, while some were working double to meet an expected increase in orders in December.

Abella earlier said they had already identified alternative routes where vehicular traffic may be re-routed during the closure of the ceremonial routes.

Among those that will be re-routed are PUJs that ply routes in Campo-Lahug (04C, 04B), Apas (17C, 17B), Lahug-SM (04L) and Mabolo (03L, 03A, 03B, 03G).

PUJs from the southern part of the city and are headed for SM mall or the North Bus Terminal will be barred from crossing Juan Luna Ave. They will only be allowed until the vicinity of A. Soriano Ave., J.C. Veyra St., and a portion of S. Osmeña Ave.

Those from the northern part of the city and are headed for the south will be allowed up to Kaohsiung St.

While the summit traffic task force was in the thick of preparations for Friday's dry run, an aircraft of the Japanese government had its own dry run to test the runway and parking space of the Mactan Cebu International Airport (MCIA).

Japan’s Boeing 747 touched down at the runway about noon on Tuesday and then took off. Then it turned back and made another descent on the runway.

This time when it landed, the 400-seater aircraft taxied to the Most Important People (MIP) Lounge of the MCIA. On board were the pilots and their crew members.

The Philippine immigration officials and members of the Presidential Security Group and the Japanese advanced party then simulated the arrival of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his family – from the time they disembarked the aircraft, escorted to the MIP Lounge and boarded the designated vehicle that would take them to their hotel.

Cebu Daily News sources, who witnessed the dry run, said it only took 15 minutes for the delegates to get off the plane and enter the MIP Lounge.

But the aircraft stayed for two hours to wait for the luggage of the delegates to be unloaded from the aircraft and then loaded to designated cars. /With reports from Reporters Wilfredo Rodolfo III and Kathy I. Navarro

[aditti]

yeah right... after the summit, balik ra man ghapon sa ka hugaw ang city. daghan kau gasto pero as if daghan kau mga big/national/international events i-hold dri..

ma dayun jd to ilang installation of cameras montioring the streets or something? they better put it inside cages coz for sure jd ko kawaton na sa mga squatters if dili man gani labayan og bato.

[SQUiDnine]

dili ba ma apektahan ang sa Basak Mandaue? diha sa Super Metro padulong highway? kai intawn, Lilo-an amo, padulong ko Banilad!

[cc_3125]

dili ba ma apektahan ang sa Basak Mandaue? diha sa Super Metro padulong highway? kai intawn, Lilo-an amo, padulong ko Banilad!

kung simbako bro maapektahan murag dako2x dyud ang singot nato ana bro. peace.

[budmendz]

Ang mga kumunista nato nga congressmen nang hilabot na sad! Ngano man ni sila nga contrabida man pirme nga unta ang "bulk" sa kuarta nga gigasto sa CICC sa probinsya man na sa Cebu ug gamay ra man gani ang sa national government? Mora ra ba ug mamayad ug buhis sa gobyerno ning mga pula unya maoy mga reklamador kaayo. Unya kana gani kunong ilang pork ining mga "walhon" nga congressmen gidungog nga ilang gi supporta sa mga NPA.

Pirme nalang ni sila nga kontra bida kay bisan gani unta nang mo "invade" nga mga militante sa Malacanang sa Sugbu bisag unsa nalang sad ilang issue. Ila man nga i-apil ang mga Amerkano sa ASEAN nga wa man ganiy bisag gamay nga balita kung duna bay American delegation nga manganha. Unya usa pa naglibog ko sa mga Bisaya nga mga militante nga motoo man anang ilang mga spokesman nga mga "tagalog". Unsa man diay ning mga Tagalog superior na ba gyud diay kaayo ni sila kay sa mga Bisaya?

House urged to condemn lavish ASEAN summit spending

By Maila Ager
INQ7.net
Last updated 07:43pm (Mla time) 11/29/2006

FIVE leftwing lawmakers have urged the House of Representatives to condemn government’s use of calamity funds and construction of an “imeldific” complex for the 12th ASEAN Summit.

Bayan Muna Representatives Teodoro Casiño, Satur Ocampo, and Joel Virador, Gabriela Women's Partylist Representative Liza Maza and Anakpawis Representative Crispin Beltran said various expenses for the summit were too grand and unnecessary and “that such extravagance is the height of insensitivity to the majority of Filipinos living in abject poverty.”

In filing House Resolution 1441 Wednesday, the lawmakers said the P515-million Cebu International Convention Center (CICC) was not only too costly and “imeldific” but may also be “miscalculated and overpriced.”

“The worst thing is, while the CICC was being erected, some 1,500 urban poor families were forcibly evicted from their homes as part of Cebu's grand beautification campaign,” Casiño said in a statement.

Leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations are to meet in the central Philippine city of Cebu on December 11-13. ASEAN is composed of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

The five lawmakers asked the House to investigate Lapu-Lapu City government’s alleged use of at least P10 million of its calamity funds for the summit, and Mandaue City’s P20 million loan from the Development Bank of the Philippines for beautification project.

“I'm not praying for a calamity but prudence asks me to hope that Lapu-Lapu city still has enough resources to deal with natural disasters if one would come,” Casiño said.

On top of the P800 million the local government had reportedly allotted for the summit, he said, the national government shelled out another P1.2 billion.

“Cebu should have allocated some of its resources to providing house for their poor constituents,” said Casino.


Copyright 2006 INQ7.net. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

[Archer sensAtion]

jawa mani sila wui...cgi lang reklamo...if kanang budget sa summit gi hatag na sa urban poor families...mo progres ba ang city ana?...mag salig na hinuon na...dili na maning kamot...government nlang cgi pasanginlan...lihok mo ug inyo oi...

[ronna]

guys, naa mo idea if naa pa ba puj from lilo-an to highway? unsay new route sa north?

[lestat1116]

during the asian summit whats the available route open to public going to the town of oslob?

taga oslob baya ko bai. usually u can go to srp pero kadlawn lang ka mo larga.

[istorya_19]

guyz, maka agi kaha ta on december 1 padung talamban? gkan cebu doc area.