Duros to Shell out P550M to Build Pavilion for IEC

(PNA) — A Cebu-based property developer will shell out P550 million for the construction of the pavilion that will be the main venue of the International Eucharistic Congress in 2016.

Duros Land Properties Inc. (DLPI) will build the 10,000 square meter pavilion to accommodate 15,000 people inside the compound of the Archdiocesan seminaries on Pope John Paul II Ave. in Mabolo, Cebu City.

DLPI president Rafaelito Barino said Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma, chairman of the IEC committee, met with him and told him about the problem the Church is facing on the IEC venue.

Barino said the IEC was being considered to be held inside SM’s multi-purpose center in the South Road Properties or in the Cebu International Convention Center (CICC) in Mandaue City.

The 51st IEC set in January 2016 with Cebu as the venue, is expected to gather thousands of delegates from different countries.

Barino said the SM multi-purpose center sa SRP can host more than 15,000 people, but the start of its construction is not yet on their time table.

The CICC, the second option, can accommodate only 3,000 people and was heavily damaged by the earthquake and the typhoon, he said.

Barino said the company has an ongoing deal with the church that the P550 million construction cost of the pavilion will be treated as advance lease for a two-hectare adjacent property that the company will develop into a commercial development later.

The funds that will be used for the construction of the pavilion will be coming from the company’s funds for Woodland Park Residences, a residential project of the company in Liloan.

If the church will be able to raise additional funds, it will be poured into the construction cost.

However, Barino said all funds for now are coming from the company. (PNA) EB