PGMA's faith in Cebuanos a deciding factor to host Asean Summit
Cebu City (4 October) -- Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia stressed President Arroyo chose Cebu as the venue of the 12th Asean Summit because she has total faith in the Cebuanos that we could pull off a successful hosting of the biggest international event of the country.
Garcia who arrived this morning as the media had a tour and briefing on the actual progress of the CICC construction said "we are pushing ourselves to the limits" to finish the CICC right on schedule and we will deliver as what the President expects, the governor promised.
The President did not choose Cebu for the Asean venue because of the infrastructure as Cebu cannot compete with Manila in terms of infrastructure. President Arroyo selected Cebu because she entirely believes in the Cebuanos and we should not fail her, according to Garcia.
The governor told the press that pictures taken today ought to be published the next day as not to mislead the public that the construction of the P450-M CICC will not be completed on time.
Garcia said economic indicators are off to a positive direction with the strengthening of the peso to the US Dollar. The President on the other hand is pushing for infra priority projects such as the building of roads, bridges and dams as cited in her State-of-the-Nation-Address (SONA) which are principal factors to fast track our nation forward, Garcia further said.
She however, added that we must also be positive about the whole project (CICC) and should not be pessimistic that it will not be finished on Nov. 15, the target completion date. The failure to deliver is not only an embarrassment on my part but is a collective embarassment for the entire Cebuanos, Garcia emphasized.
CICC architect Manuel Guanzon who conducted the tour and briefing said, what we need is encouragement and prayers from the people that the ongoing construction of the CICC will go smoothly. Instead of being critical and skeptical about the project not being able to finish on time, Guanzon said those who are negative should not convince the rest of the Cebuanos as any negative reports or comments will also affect them.
Guanzon said we must remember that the CICC "is a source of pride for the Province of Cebu."
Let us be a beckon of hope to the rest of the country by being optimistic and positive of the CICC project as we try to extend such positivism outside of Cebu, Garcia ended. (PIA-Cebu/FCR) [top]
