PRA now under Duterte control
Credit to Author: Tempo Desk| Date: Mon, 04 Feb 2019 08:11:09 +0000
The Office of the President will now have control and supervision of the Philippine Reclamation Authority based on a new order issued by President Duterte.
Duterte issued Executive Order No. 74 also delegating to the PRA Governing Board the power of the President to approve the reclamation projects in a bid to rationalize operations for a sustainable resource development.
The new presidential directive repealed two past executive orders that placed the PRA under the control of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and its power to approve projects held by 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. 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 order said.
“There is a need to rationalize the approval process for reclamation projects towards an economically and environmentally sustainable resource development,” it added.
The order also highlighted the State’s policy “to increase competitiveness, promote ease of doing business, and rationalize and streamline functions of agencies to facilitate efficient delivery of government services.”
Under EO 74, the President mandated the PRA to seek the “advisory opinions” of three concerned government
agencies on any proposed reclamation project.
It must get the opinion of NEDA on consistency of the project with national and regional development planning and programming, and established national priorities of the government; the DENR on the environmental sustainability of the project and compliance with environmental laws; and the Department of Finance on the economic and fiscal viability of the project. (Genalyn Kabiling)