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No concrete plan yet on CDA-Commerce merger
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Posted on Mar 15 2006
As far as the Commerce Department is concerned, no concrete plan is being considered yet regarding the proposed merger of the department and the Commonwealth Development Authority.
Acting Commerce Secretary James Santos said yesterday that he has not seen a written proposal tackling the matter. Nor has he been invited by the Executive Branch to discuss such a possibility.
“I have not seen a concrete plan. I’m not sure if that’s going to go through,” he said.
Santos said, though, that if the merger actually happens, then “I have no choice.”
“If the governor puts CDA under [this department], I have no choice,” he said.
He said such a setup would definitely result in more workload.
At this time, he said the department is actually short of personnel.
From about 50 employees years back, he said the department now makes do with 32.
The department receives some $1.5 million a year and 80 percent of this goes to personnel.
“We have a very small budget for operations,” he said.
CDA board chair Tom Glenn A. Quitugua said that the administration’s pronouncement of a CDA-Commerce merger has caused alarm among CDA personnel.
“The idea of being transferred is causing uncertainty because people don’t know if they will be transferred or not,” said Quitugua.
He likewise said that he has not seen a written proposal on the merger of the two offices.
