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Thursday, February 24, 2005
No P100M, no DOT transfer
By Linette C. Ramos
Sun.Star Staff Reporter
Ther Department of Tourism’s (DOT) plan to transfer their central office to Cebu City has been stalled by the lack of funds, but it will open a satellite office here next month.
Tourism Secretary Joseph Ace Durano said yesterday that they are waiting for the release of the P100 million needed to construct the new DOT building at the South Reclamation Project (SRP) and relocate the agency’s operations.
“The funds needed for the transfer were not included in our 2005 budget.
DBM is still working on it. So unless all the proposed revenue measures will be passed, I doubt we can move in next year,” he told Sun.Star Cebu.
While the transfer is on hold, Durano said they will open the DOT secretary’s office near the Ecotech Center in Sudlon, Lahug, Cebu City by end of March.
DOT Assistant Secretary Phineas Alburo said the satellite office will be the first step in the decentralization of the DOT.
Going south
Since bringing the entire department here would take time and require funding, Alburo said they will first open the satellite office “to bring the office of the secretary closer to the south.”
In his news conference yesterday, Mayor Tomas Osmeña said the commitment and plan of President Arroyo to transfer DOT to Kawit Point in SRP still stands, but the department does not have the funds yet for the construction of their office.
He added that without the exact plan for the DOT building, they would not be able to complete the plans for other projects in Kawit.
“Basically that’s the one holding up the development of Kawit Island,” he said.
Aside from the DOT’s move to Cebu, the central office of the Department of Agriculture will also be transferred to Davao City, the Department of Transportation and Communications to Clark Field in Angeles City and the Department of Agrarian Reform to Iloilo.
Alburo said they will be ready to move into the Civil Service Commission building near Ecotech by March, which they will be occupying for free.
“We will function like the central office. Any concern that needs the approval of the secretary, we will do it here. So if there are special concerns that need his attention, we can attend to these immediately,” he said in a phone interview.
The satellite office will serve as Durano’s office both as tourism secretary and Cabinet officer for regional development in Central Visayas.
(February 24, 2005 issue)
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