Cebu Summit Postponed To January 10 - 14

The new dates of Cebu Summit is January 10 – 14, Ambassador Marciano Paynor, secretary general of the National Organizing Committee (NOC) of the 12th ASEAN Summit, announced recently. The proposed new dates for the Cebu Summit, is one month after the original dates. In a press conference at the Cebu International Convention Center (CICC), Cebu City, Paynor said, "the ASEAN senior officials and the Philippines as chairman of the ASEAN standing committee have proposed Jan. 10-14, 2007 as the new dates for the ASEAN Summit and the ASEAN Plus Three Summit. The dates would be subject to the availability of the leaders, "although he quickly added that" the ASEAN senior officials are almost 100 percent sure that the ASEAN leaders would be able to make it on the said dates. "Most ASEAN countries are willing to adjust to the new dates", Paynor added.
According to Paynor, within one week, the senior officials could pass on the decision of their leaders to the NOC. As originally scheduled, many meetings related to the summit will be held at the brand-new CICC and that is one advantage of postponing the summit, the CICC facilities could be further improved.
"It was one of the best dry-runs that we had," Paynor said. Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia, during the press conference, said that although they went through a "very disappointing setback," it nevertheless gave them the opportunity to "improve ourselves and to toughen ourselves. Cebu moves and will continue to move forward," Garcia said.
Earlier, the foreign ministers of ASEAN expressed their full support to the deci-
sion of the Philippines to reset the Cebu Summit because of typhoon "Seniang" which was forecast to hit Cebu province on the eve of the summit, December 10. The typhoon, however, skirted Cebu City but hit the northern part of Cebu province, particularly Bantayan Island and neighboring towns, where power and communication facilities were knocked down by strong winds.
The fishing industry in Bantayan Island was also affected by the typhoon. According to Paynor, the January summit could dispense with some of the preparatory meetings, like the senior officials’ meetings which have already discussed most of the documents to be passed on to their respective leaders, the meeting of the Eminent Persons Group, and the economic ministers meeting. On Friday, December 8, the ASEAN economic ministers winded up their meetings after they signed six economic agreements that would further expand economic cooperation in the region. Four of the six agreements signed are for the intra-ASEAN trade while the two others are economic agreements expanding trade with China. /MPmailto:madyaas_pen@yahoo.com