20 Asean Summit journalists stranded in Bohol by Seniang

TWO big developments coming to 20 Association of Southeast Asian Nation (ASEAN) journalists in less than an hour Friday afternoon could have them pounding to get the news straight home, but being helplessly marooned in Bohol , all they could do was shrug in frustration. Then, on almost the same time the National Organizing Committee announced the postponement of the Summit. The two developments, broken to the media party less than an hour apart had the media group wondering why the impending threat of a tropical depression turning into a storm spotted several hundred kilometers off Samar was not announced so trips out of Cebu could not have been allowed.

The foreign and local media group came in to Bohol before the being dipped into the protocol at the 12th ASEAN summit. While in Bohol , key Asian print and broadcast journalists from Brunei-Darussalam , Cambodia , Indonesia , Laos , Malaysia , Myanmar , the Philippines , Singapore , Thailand and Vietnam took the Bohol day tour. They booked return trips via Oceanjet Friday morning to return at the boat's Tagbilaran Cebu trip in the afternoon of December 8. While the tour was about to end, news spread of the impending super-storm expected to hit the summit venue had the Philippine weather authorities issuing advisories prompting the Coast guard to issue the all seacraft trips' suspension about 2 pm.

In a text advisory, Bohol tour agent for the journalists broke the news while the entourage was still on board the Loboc river-cruise. Text messages and calls to concerned authorities confirmed the news while tropical storm “Senyang” entered the Philippine area of responsibility. Weather advisories from the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Service Administration (PAG-ASA) bared that the storm packed 55 kilometers per hour winds would hit Central Visayas , including the Summit venue. While Bohol was particularly sunny and the sea a virtual oil-calm, PAG-ASA projected that the storm would amass an intensity of 114 to 150 kilometers by Saturday, thereby coming out with weather bulletins. With the projection, Summit organizers particularly worried of the safety of the presidents and prime-ministers of 16 member countries coming in Saturday for the December 11 ASEAN summit and December 13 East Asia Summit opening issued the cancellation of the minister's summit.

Summit National Organizing Committee said the postponement has nothing to do with the reported security threat but would allow the country an undivided attention to prepare and implement rehabilitation after the storm. With the 20 journalists now holed up in an undisclosed location in Bohol , news streaming out from these stringers are now sent via the internet, a good thing Bohol already has the technology to do so.

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