12th Asean Summit (cebu) Postponed?

[chua_riwap]

Postponed daw yung Asean Summit to January 2007 due to tropical storm Senyang.

Owwws! Yun lang kaya ang dahilan?

[chua_riwap]

CEBU - The Philippines has postponed an Asian leaders' summit to January 2007 because a tropical storm is heading for the central island of Cebu, an ASEAN official said on Friday.

During a press conference, Ambassador Marciano Paynor, secretary general of the summit's national organizing committe, confirmed earlier wire reports of the event's postponement due to the arrival of tropical storm Seniang (international codename Utor).

"All leaders' summits have been postponed because of the typhoon," ASEAN Assistant-Secretary General of Administration Domingo Lucenario said in a Reuters report.

"Foreign ministers meetings will push through as scheduled tomorrow," he said.

International wires reported that the ASEAN summit has been postponed because of the threat of another storm, which is expected to hit the city of Cebu.

Agence France Press has also reported that the Philippines has cancelled twin summits of East Asian and Southeast Asian leaders due to an incoming typhoon.

Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye and Ed Malaya of the Department of Foreign Affairs earlier told abs-cbnNEWS.com they have yet to receive confirmation about the postponement from the ASEAN National Organizing Committee in Cebu.

“We don’t have any word on that,” said Bunye.

As of 4 p.m. the weather bureau reported that storm signal number 1 is now raised in Cebu. With reports from Reuters and AFP

[j_avonni]

Postponed daw yung Asean Summit to January 2007 due to tropical storm Senyang.

Owwws! Yun lang kaya ang dahilan?

Baka madaanan ang convention center at magiba.

[chua_riwap]

Baka madaanan ang convention center at magiba.

Max. 95 kph lang ang hangin ni Senyang. Ganun ba kahina yung Conv. Center?

Di pa nila aminin, natatakot lang sila sa massive protests against Con-Ass next week.

[squatt3r]

they might have discovered a terror plot

[jonski]

Bakit kasi hindi nalang sa Metro Manila ginawa...minus gastos pa kasi hindi na gagawa ng mga new building.

[chua_riwap]

Asean Meet Canceled Amid Political ‘Storm’ Fears

12/09/2006


CEBU — It was not Typhoon “Seniang” (International code name Utor) but another gathering political storm against President Arroyo and her House allies that made Malacañang and the summit organizers do the unthinkable: Cancel the top level meet at the last minute.

As tens of thousands of people from all walks of life, led by Catholic bishops and opposition leaders gear up for a series of massive protests against President Arroyo for supporting Charter change (Cha-cha) through the unilateral House approved Constituent Assembly (Con-ass) along with security concerns raised by foreign governments, the Philippine government canceled on Friday the 12th Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean) Summit that was scheduled to be held here from Dec. 11 to 13, lamely citing as reason the “weather disturbance” expected in the country.”

The country’s weather bureau officials, however, recommended to Malacañang and the summit organizers to push through with the meet, as Seniang did not pose a storm threat to the summit.

But officials, while admitting that the weather bureau had indeed recommended for the Summit to push through, claimed the President herself did not want to be at the Summit while typhoon victims needed her attention. This reason was not deemed credible, since Mrs. Arroyo and her allies ignored the calls of the opposition not to make Con-ass a priority, since the typhoon victims still need assistance and attention.

Speculation was rife that the meeting’s cancellation was due to the ongoing political turmoil in Manila following protests against the government’s move to amend the Constitution. Malacañang immediately denied this.

Reliable government sources disclosed that the political storm prompted Mrs. Arroyo to cancel the meeting. “She made the decision herself. She ordered the cancellation of the meeting,” one official said. Sources said Mrs. Arroyo “does not want to be embarrassed before foreign leaders” as street protests are expected to swell in the next few days.

“It can’t be terrorism. There is police visibility in Cebu and security is very tight. Cebu is a small place and very easy to secure,” a Malacañang official told the Tribune.

An intelligence officer contacted by the paper also virtually confirmed to the Tribune yesterday that it was the continuing build-up of the massive protests in Manila and nationwide that caused the cancellation of the summit, saying that with the meet necessitating tight security, police and military elements in the thousands would all be in Cebu, while the demonstrations in the metropolis get bigger, there will be only a few troops reining in the Manila rallyists, who could overpower the police and military in numbers.

Manila has in fact, been placed on full alert, even when the summit, as well as the claimed terror threats is focused in Cebu.

“The Philippine government is confident that the slight change in the dates of the Cebu Summits will not in any way affect the determination and the commitment of the leaders and all officials involved in achieving the objectives of the summit nor will it diminish the significance of their work,” a summit official said.

But a Filipino diplomat, who asked not to be named, said foreign delegates “were unhappy” with the Philippine decision. The source said the delegates were “surprised” upon learning the news that the high-level meeting will no longer push through. “It’s such a shame. We don’t know what they are saying behind our backs. Obviously, they are very disappointed. We are sending them the wrong signals on our decision-making,” the diplomat said.

For his part, a ranking Foreign Affairs official, said the government committed a “wrong decision” and mishandled the situation. “This is an international commitment. It’s very embarrassing. I don’t know if we still have the face to show to the world after this shameful incident,” the source said.

“It could have been managed carefully. There is a more professional way of handling a situation like this. The government could have thought of a better reason for not pushing through with the summit than give a lame excuse such as the bad weather,” the official added.

The demonstrations and rallies are expected to be massive, with the Catholic bishops united, for once, in supporting the Filipino people’s opposition to Mrs. Arroyo and her allies’ move for poltical perpetuity. Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales yesterday called on administration congresssmen to break away from sinful and immoral acts such as the Con-ass and Cha-cha since this issue is dividing the nation.“Let us be united. Let us set aside (our) selfish ways particularly those in the government,” Rosales said during an interview over radio Veritas.

The Association of Major Religious Superiors of the Philippines (AMRSP) stressed that pro-Arroyo solons must now stop pushing Con-ass since it is obvious that the purpose of this effort is “to perpetuate themselves in power”.

“The undue haste to revise the constitution even by immoral means is an abominable act,” the AMRSP said in a statement.

This call to arms with the bishops united against Con-ass was what scared off Mrs. Arroyo, sources reieterated.

This is the first time that an Asean Summit was canceled in the 39-year history of the regional bloc.

Sources added that Mrs. Arroyo did not consult all her Cabinet officials, including her Executive Secretary, Eduardo Ermita, when she ordered the Philippine Asean organizers to cancel the scheduled summit.

Earlier in the day, Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo, amid concerns on the weather condition, told a press conference here that the summit will proceed as scheduled and that the government is not anticipating any interruption.

Meanwhile, it was also claimed by different quarters that security was the reason for the meeting’s abrupt cancellation.

A ranking Foreign Affairs official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said one of the reasons for not pushing through with the summit is due to security threats raised by the United States, Australia, Britain and Canada.

The said countries issued a travel advisory against their nationals after receiving “credible information” that terrorists are in the “final stages” of launching attacks in Cebu during the summit.

But the government maintained that bad weather is the primary reason for postponing the summit amid recommendation by weather bureau Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical Astronomical Services Administration (PagAsa ) that the summit can proceed as Cebu will not be directly hit by the storm.

“After serious consideration of the possible effects of the projected weather disturbance, the Asean-Philippines National Organizing Committee, in consultation with the national and local agencies involved, has decided to move the dates of the Cebu Summits,” Committee head Marciano Paynor Jr. told an emergency press conference.

“This will also allow the government to give its undivided attention to any effects this major weather disturbance may have on the parts of the Philippines its passes through,” Paynor added.

“As the leaders participating in the Cebu Summit are determined to continue with the work of building A Caring and Sharing Community, the Cebu Summits will be held in January 2007,” Paynor said.

The specific dates of the Cebu Summits—the Asean Summit and the East Asia Summit between the 10-member Southeast Asian leaders and dialog partners China, Japan, Korea, Australia, New Zealand and India—will be determined after further consultations with the governments of the member-states, Paynor said. The summit will still be held in Cebu, he said.

Aside from the Philippines, the summit will gather leaders from Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, Brunei, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar and dialogue partners Australia.

But another official who asked for anonymity said the cancellation “speaks of our system and the kind of government we have. The President is putting our credibility at stake.”

Meanwhile, foreign journalists covering the Asean were not pleased either with the government decision. “As media, we will try to find indications to validate reports that this is more than just the storm,” said Charmaine Deogracias of NHK, the public television network of Japan. Deogracias also said that NHK, along with other foreign media organizations, have already spent a lot for the Cebu summit.

“Imagine, we were supposed to broadcast live the press conference of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe from Mactan Shangrila on Dec. 13 and we’ve set up communication lines to facilitate this and we have to cancel and we have to pay cancellation fees and it has cost us a lot not to mention the full payment for our hotels, car rentals and other expenses,” Deogracias said.

This is supposed to be Abe’s first Asean Summit since assuming the position of Japan Prime Minister in September. “The prospect of holding the summit in January and considering the logistical preparations all over again is just so discouraging,” Deogracias said.

[OTEP]

Yung ASEAN, na postpone dahil sa bagyo.

Pero yung meeting ng congress para sa Cha cha hindi mapostpone-postpone. hehehe. Kahit alas tres ng madaling araw andun pa din ang mga loko.

[boybi]

Yung ASEAN, na postpone dahil sa bagyo.

Pero yung meeting ng congress para sa Cha cha hindi mapostpone-postpone. hehehe. Kahit alas tres ng madaling araw andun pa din ang mga loko.

umatras na si Stitch, este, JDV sa Con-Ass. Con-Con nalang daw.

[evs_13]

or baka naman di pa tapos yung construction ng pagdadaosan ng asean summit...

[CVT]

IMO, hindi ito maganda sa image ng bansa.....

:starwars:

[Isuzoom]

***y din pala Governor ng cebu...I will add her sa listahan ko...

[RedHorse]

*isuzuzoom,

pix nga ng cebu gov, + iloilo congresswoman (ganda daw yon sabi) he he

btt:

pangit nga naman (sa gma govt) meron street protest + + (baka) military adventurism.... wala pa akong nababasa sa print/internet media na may paparating na mga kano soldiers under the normal cover of balikatan. yon ay parang assurance from bush, kaya lang with the makati judge perfect timing of sending to jail a marine, parang ++ sa opposition ang mga events, hope palagpasin muna nila last ipo for this year... he he he

[Syuryuken]

Kala ko ba kaya kanselado dahil may mga nakapasok daw na mga terorista o ayaw lang sa protesta?

[chua_riwap]

***y din pala Governor ng cebu...I will add her sa listahan ko...

Gwendolyn Garcia.......hot momma.

Ika nga eh, may "asim" pa.

[squatt3r]

CICC is leaking

[chua_riwap]

CICC is leaking

Oo nga raw. Nakakahiya. He-he! Kaya na-postpone ang summit. Tatapalan muna mga butas. Baka mabasa si Pandak.