Cebu Convention Center: Why we need it

It’s five days more to go before the final date of completion of the Cebu International Convention Center (CICC) and we expect its builder, Architect Manuel Guanzon, to finish this facility as promised, otherwise Ambassador Marciano Paynor, chairman of the ASEAN Summit Cebu Organizing Committee (COC), would shift to "Plan B," which means that the main venue of the 12th ASEAN Leaders’ Summit would be moved, as planned, to the Shangri-La’s Mactan Island Resort and Spa.

Yes, from day one, when Ambassador Paynor came up with plans for the ASEAN Summit, he already told us that there was a Plan B and even a Plan C, just in case. But at this point, we’re still giving Architect Guanzon the benefit, not of the doubt, but of five more days to complete the structure.

As far as the reported cost overrun for the construction of the CICC is concerned, Cebu Gov. Gwen Garcia issued a statement that the maximum increase in the P450-million budget is only 15 percent or P67.5 million, thus the budget for the controversial facility would total P517.5 million, which is very much lower than what Cebu Vice Gov. Greg Sanchez earlier announced — P800 million. As what Gov. Garcia emphasized, "Cebu’s Convention Center is going to be inexpensive... but not cheap! But while it is inexpensive, we never sacrificed the quality of the building materials. We used structural steel, which is costly, but the fastest way we could build the facility."

Let me point out that before the CICC became a reality, it was called the Megadome, something that Cebuanos did not receive with enthusiasm simply because many of us felt that we did not need another mega basketball sports arena and also because Cebu businessmen really wanted a convention and exhibition center along the lines of Hong Kong’s Convention Center, Singapore’s Suntec and Manila’s Philippine International Convention Center (PICC).

Talking about cost, I checked the Internet for the facts about the Hong Kong Convention Center and I found out that this facility opened in 1988 at a cost of US$620 million or HK$4.8 billion. Multiply this figure in today’s rate of P49 to one US dollar, that would come around to some US$30 billion — and that’s 18 years ago! Singapore’s Suntec probably cost more because they constructed it much later than Hong Kong’s. But today, Suntec isn’t just a convention center; they have turned it into a Convention City, bringing more tourists to Singapore.

I don’t really know how much the Philippine government spent to build the PICC, but whatever the cost, I’m sure we have already recovered it a hundred-fold with tourists, international delegates or conventioneers flocking to Manila to attend their respective conventions there.

At the time when the PICC was built in the mid-70s, tourists went to Hong Kong only for shopping or the view from Victoria Peak. Singapore, in those days, was still backwater country. But these two places envied the Philippines for it had a facility that they did not have because they could not host international conferences without a full-blown convention center.

I was lucky to have attended the World Law Conference way back in 1976 as the official representative of the University of San Carlos (USC); it was the first-ever international conference held at the PICC. When I first saw the PICC, it was like entering a five-star hotel... and yes, we were very proud of that facility. I haven’t been back to the PICC since, so I don’t know whether this convention facility has been refurbished or not. For sure, it’s lagging behind the Hong Kong Convention Center and Singapore’s Suntec.

The CICC will cost the province of Cebu less than a billion pesos, but this facility promises to bring a host of international conventions and shows to Cebu, where before we could not. Cebu never had huge international conventions because we couldn’t offer such a facility. This is why when international conventions are held in the Philippines, they go to the PICC, which has taken a good share of the convention business away from our ASEAN neighbors.

Not only that, if Mandaue City plays its cards right (yes, the CICC is located in Mandaue City), the Mandaue reclamation area, which is Mandaue’s fastest growing area, could blossom into a city within a city, just like what happened with the Suntec Convention Center in Singapore.

For an example, we don’t have to go far. Ten years ago, if you happened to pass by Salinas Drive in Cebu City, it was a quiet residential area, with the exception of the University of the Southern Philippines (USP). But when the Mactan International Airport Authority (MCIAA) leased its property to the Waterfront Hotel then led by Chua Mayu, Salinas Drive became the fastest-growing street in Cebu City, besting even the growth of Mango Avenue or Osmeña Boulevard in Cebu City’s uptown business district.

Today, Salinas Drive hosts two newer, but smaller hotels and a host of restaurants and bars. With the opening of AsianTown, where Cebu’s call center facilities are located, real estate rentals and property rates shot up and the City of Cebu now earns a lot of revenues from the brisk business along Salinas Drive, all because Cebu’s only five-star hotel, the Waterfront Hotel, is located along that road. I’m sure that the CICC would usher in new economic development for Cebu, not to mention added revenues from conventioneers and delegates coming over for international conventions.

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Last Monday evening, Cebuanos got a taste of what the future lies for the Ayala Center in Cebu with its parent company, Cebu Holdings Inc. (CHI), planning to invest P800 million in a project that would start as early as January next year. Actually, this project dubbed "Leisure Oasis" would transform the back portion of the present Ayala Center shopping mall into Cebu’s version of Makati’s Greenbelt Park, adding some 8,000 square meters of leasable area that would bring in some 50 shops or restaurants complete with bars and an entertainment center.

Right now, this area is literally a backwater drain that used to be a creek in the old Club Filipino golf course days. Just looking at the scale model of the project, one can easily see that this facility would totally transform the back area of the Ayala Center from the ugly duckling that everyone knows it is today, into a beautiful swan. This is a fresh change for the Ayala Center, a change that has been a long time coming and perfectly timed for the better days that we expect Cebu and the entire nation would enjoy, especially next year.

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For e-mail responses to this article, write to [email protected]. Bobit Avila’s columns in The Freeman can also be accessed through The Philippine STAR website (www.philstar.com). He also hosts a weekly talkshow, "Straight from the Sky," shown every Monday, 8 p.m., only in Metro Cebu on Channel 15 of SkyCable. Bobit’s columns can also be accessed at www.shootinginsidecebu.blogspot.com.