PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte has tapped the president of the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) as a new member of the Cabinet infrastructure cluster, according to an executive order (EO) released by Malacañang on Tuesday July 30.

EO 86, inked by Duterte on July 25, emphasizes the need to reorganize the Cabinet infrastructure cluster and takes note of the BCDA's role to "adopt, prepare and implement a comprehensive and detailed development plan for the conversion of the Clark and Subic Military reservations into other productive uses to promote economic and social development."

"The mandate of the BCDA in the conversion of the Clark and Subic military reservations and their extensions into alternative productive uses, its vital public infrastructure projects such as tollway, railway, airport, seaport, and new economic growth corridor, and its role in the 'Build, Build, Build' program, warrant its inclusion as a Member of the Infrastructure Cluster," it said.

The Cabinet infrastructure cluster, created through EO 24 signed in 2017, is tasked to focus on infrastructure development for the realization of the Duterte government's 10-point socio-economic agenda.

It is also mandated to boost the delivery of public infrastructure by ensuring efficient and transparent management of assets and resources, focusing both on management of assets and the shift to service-oriented approaches that enable stakeholders to become co-producers of services.

The cluster is led by the Secretary of the Department of Public Works and Highways.

Members include the secretaries of Executive, Cabinet, Budget, Transportation, Finance, Information, Trade, Agriculture, Health, Social Welfare, Education, and Tourism departments as well as the head of the Presidential Management Staff.

EO 86 states that all other provisions of EO 24 "shall remain in full force and effect," except as expressly modified by the new order.

"If any provision of this Executive Order is declared invalid or unconstitutional, the other provisions not affected thereby shall remain valid and subsisting," the order reads.

EO 86 takes effect immediately upon its publication in the Official Gazette or a newspaper of general circulation. (SunStar Philippines)