Cebu Gov, Mandaue Mayor ink CICC Sale Deal

Cebu Governor Hilario Davide III and Mandaue City Mayor Luigi Quisumbing have signed the termination of their joint venture agreement and the contract to sell the Cebu International Convention Center (CICC) on Tuesday at the provincial capitol.

Under the new agreement, Mandaue City will pay PHP300 million until 2019 to the Cebu provincial government for the purchase of the CICC with a new deal requiring the city to pay a PHP75-million down payment before the year ends.

Davide is expecting a lot of criticism from this deal and is prepared to answer questions regarding the legality of the agreement.

“We have finally reached this point. I know that hours from the signing, there will be people who will criticize us. We are prepared to answer any of the questions, and I assure everyone that we stand on solid legal grounds. We assure the public that the proceeds of the sale will be for the improvement of our (infrastructure) developments,” said Davide.

“We are extremely happy to be here. The CICC represents the most important development in Mandaue, and today we ensure that this will mean to reshape and open more economic developments and better services to the people,” said Quisumbing.

According to Davide, the hard part comes after the agreement as there are many proposals about how to reconstruct and develop the CICC so as to bring employment and commercial activities to the area.

“To develop the CICC properly will cost around a billion and a half or even more. It will take a while for the city to recover that kind of money, not to mention the (cost in) manpower, utility, operation and salary of each personnel,” said Davide.

Davide believes it is best for the Mandaue City government to partner with a private developer and be free from the financial obligations of having to build and operate the CICC in order to recover the acquisition cost for the facility.

“It will be almost impossible for the city to recover the acquisition cost. So, we hope that the PHP300 million is the only thing that they will spend on and divert their focus on the recovery of that amount,” said Davide. (USJR intern Ador Menchavez/PNA)