Soco: Focus investment decision-making powers to EEC
A proposed ordinance focusing the investment decision-making function to the EEC is being pushed at the Provincial Board. | CDN file photo
CEBU CITY, Philippines — The evaluation of the Cebu provincial government’s economic and enterprise ventures may soon lie upon the hands of the Economic Enterprise Council (EEC) alone.
This as a proposed ordinance, now pending before the Provincial Board’s Committee on Laws and Review of Ordinances, seeks to abolish the Joint Investment Evaluation and Selection Committee (JIESC) and transfer its present powers to a “reconstituted” EEC.
Soco’s proposal: Abolish JIESC
Board Member Glenn Anthony Soco, the author of the ordinance and chairperson of the PB’s Committee on Commerce, Trade and Industry, told CDN Digital that the recommendation to reconstitute the EEC, and thereby abolish the JIESC, came from the Executive Department.
The EEC and the JIESC are two economic bodies of the province, created through separate ordinances, for the management of the province’s resources and to generate new funding sources.
But despite the presence of the two economic bodies, Soco said that “the maximization of the use of resources and/or the creation of its own sources of revenue remains wanting for the Province of Cebu.”
“To better address this challenge of maximizing the use of resources and/or the creation of its own sources of revenue, there is a need to equip the necessary body or office with the necessary complement, authority, and power,” the proposed ordinance reads.
Maximize use of resources
Abolishing the JIESC and concentrating the economic powers on the EEC, according to the ordinance, avoids duplication of functions and roles and advantageous to “achieve the important purpose of promoting and maximizing the use of resources and/or the creation of its own sources of revenue.”
Read more: Cebu is richest province in PH
Cebu stands as the richest province in the country with over P35 billion worth of assets in 2018. At present, the re-appraisal of real estate values has caused its assets’ worth to shoot up to P188 billion as it closed its book of accounts for 2019.
Under the proposed ordinance, the EEC will also have the power to adopt its own rules of procedure in connection with its exercise of the powers of the JIESC.
Reconstituted EEC
The to-be reconstituted EEC will be chaired by the incumbent provincial governor with the Provincial Treasurer as the vice-chairman.
Its membership will also constitute the Provincial Board’s chairpersons on the Committees of Ways and Means, Trade and Industry, and Municipal and Provincial Properties, provincial accountant, provincial legal officer, budget officer, provincial investment and promotions officer and either the general services officer or provincial administrator, depending on the choice of the governor.
The governor may also choose five other persons to represent different sectors based on their knowledge, expertise, and experience in law, finance and management.
The Committee on Laws and Review is expected to render a report on the proposed ordinance and after which, it will be upon the PB to deliberate the merits of the ordinance./dbs
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