Cabinet clusters to replace ECC

Trade and Industry Secretary Manuel Roxas II said yesterday the government is planning to create goal-oriented Cabinet clusters following the abolition of the Economic Coordinating Council (ECC) formed by deposed President Estrada.

"The functions of the economic superbody will most likely be returned to the Cabinet economic clusters," Roxas said.

Roxas also said that with his reappointment to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), all efforts will be made to attract more foreign investments.

He said the trade department will make sure that its voice will be heard, particularly in the Monetary Board of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and in the area of information technology.

The trade secretary was supposed to be the government representative under the reorganized Monetary Board. However, the Department of Finance (DOF) under former Finance Secretary Jose T. Pardo has replaced the DTI as government representative in the Monetary Board.

Roxas, however, is not that eager to get back the representation in the Monetary Board saying that he will still "be able to push forward the DTI’s concerns even without such a position in the Monetary Board."

On the alleged transfer of supervision over the information technology field from the DTI to the Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC), Roxas said he is ready to claim jurisdiction over the IT sector.

"There is some misunderstanding over the alleged transfer of the IT sector to the DOTC," he said, adding that "the DOTC will only be involved in the IT sector with regard to the physical infrastructures."