P300-M Leyte convention center soon to be operational

By Philippine Information Agency (PIA 8)
February 19, 2013

PAWING, Palo, Leyte – The first phase of the state-of-the-art P300 million plus Leyte Convention Center complex will soon be open operational as the Provincial Government of Leyte expects its completion in the first quarter of 2013.

“The P115 million Main Hall of the Leyte Convention Center will hopefully be completed in the first week of March, 2013,” Provincial Engineer Robert Lugnasin told the Philippine Information Agency.

Actually, the contractor is already working on the ceiling and some finishing touches, he said. The facilities like comfort rooms are already in place, he said. He added that the Main Hall will be operational by the third week of March.

The total budget for the Leyte Convention Center complex is P300 million, Engr. Lugnasin disclosed. He explained that the construction of the Leyte Convention Center complex is divided into three phases.

The first phase is the Main Hall with comfort rooms. The second phase will include the construction of Exhibit Hall and a parking area in front of the Main Hall. The third phase will entail the construction of offices and a parking space at the back.

The Main Hall is a single storey building with a capacity of 1,500 seated guests and can accommodate about 5,500 people, the Provincial Engineer said. The Hall may be divided into two, each with 500 person capacity.

The Provincial Government of Leyte through the initiative of former Governor, now Energy Secretary Carlos Jericho L. Petilla, programmed the construction of the Leyte Convention Center Complex at Barangay Pawing in Palo, Leyte in answer to the over-arching need to meet the growth of the so-called MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions) industry.

Then Governor Petilla said that the construction of the convention center complex is in tandem with the operation of the Oriental Hotel Leyte which will serve as the accommodation for participants in national conventions that will be hosted by the provincial government and even by other agencies and private entities.

The new convention center is part of the economic development blueprint of the provincial government that was prioritized by then Governor Petilla.

The area where the convention center is located is adjacent to the Leyte Academic Center (LAC) within the Philippine Economic Zone Authority-declared information and communications technology park.

Several small and medium sized ICT companies have been occupying LAC while two separate buildings are occupied by a multinational customer service company.