Sunday, July 29, 2007 Congressman pushes for LGU seats in board that runs Cebu’s ports
REP. Pablo John Garcia (Cebu, 3rd district) will file a bill to amend the charter of the Cebu Port Authority (CPA) to include local chief executives as members.
Under the CPA’s current charter, its governing body includes only the Department of Transportation and Communications and commissioners coming from “ship owners, cargo handlers and the business sector.”
“So we have a situation where local government units (LGUs) are not even represented in the board. The LGUs, which, under the Local Government Code have the duty to ensure the safety, convenience and order, do not have representation in an authority manning a vital facility such as the ports,” he said.
It is only proper, the congressman said, that local officials must take part in making policies and decisions at the ports.
“It is unfair because the five commissioners now represent sectors who have vested interests in the ports. So who will represent the general welfare of the public? Wala (No one),” he said.
He is proposing that the governor-who happens to be his sister Gwendolyn—sits as ex-officio member of the board, as well as the “local chief executive of the highly urbanized, independent or component city where majority of the port facilities under CPA jurisdiction are located,” which, in Cebu’s case, means the Cebu City mayor.
With Garcia’s proposal, the number of commissioners coming from sectors who have “financial and vested” interests in port operations will be reduced to three instead of five, so the power of the President to appoint will be limited to three commissioners.
He cited the composition of the Mactan-Cebu International Airport Authority, which includes the Cebu governor as member. He said this is only proper because operation of these major facilities will affect the whole province.
Garcia believes his proposal will also lead to a better coordination between the CPA and the LGUs, such as the CPA’s “perennial problem” on taxes.
The ports also need other infrastructure support, such as roads, so having local chief executives as members will be better in terms of traffic coordination and the need to open new roads leading to ports.
“And if local legislative support is needed for better port operations, then they can easily talk this out in meetings,” he said.
Aside from the proposal to amend the CPA charter, Garcia is also filing a bill to make the shipbuilding town of Balamban into a city. (JPM)
