President Rodrigo Duterte says the Philippine Reclamation Authority remains inoperative, and that he might create a separate agency for land reclamation that will only be manned by people with “unquestionable character.”
He made the statement two months after he transferred the agency to his control and supervision.
In a speech during a motorcycle clubs’ convention in Iloilo City on Saturday, Duterte said he avoids government transactions that involve large amounts of money, but that he took exception in the case of PRA.
“I only took the PRA because they’ve been squabbling about money for too long. I removed it. I put it in my office, but it’s not moving. I never act on it,” the President said.
“I would maybe constitute another agency [manned by] people with unquestionable character just to be clean.”
In his Executive Order 74, Duterte moved the PRA to the Office of the President, delegating to the PRA Governing Board the power of the President to approve reclamation projects and other purposes, aiming to rationalize operations for a sustainable resource development.
The PRA used to approve reclamation projects on behalf of the chief executive, but Duterte’s new directive repealed the two previous executive orders that placed the PRA under the control of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the National Economic and Development Authority.
“The PRA shall be under the control and supervision of the OP, while the power of the President to approve all reclamation projects shall be delegated to the PRA Governing Board,” the EO says.
“Such delegation, however, shall not be construed as diminishing the President’s authority to modify, amend or nullify the action of the PRA Governing Board.”
The Palace had previously said Duterte’s order was meant to streamline the PRA’s services and make the agency “more efficient.”
