Durano mulling employee swap with other agencies

CEBU — Newly appointed Tourism Secretary Joseph Ace Durano is looking at the possibility of swapping personnel from other government agencies once the transfer of the Department of Tourism (DOT) to Cebu is carried out.

Durano said there might be Cebuano employees from other departments who would want to be reassigned in Cebu.

He said the DOT would take them in to replace DOT employees in Manila who do not want to be assigned here.

The other option is to make the transfer to Cebu attractive to the Manila employees, he said.

Durano said among the packages that they are working on to attract the Manila employees to transfer here is giving them dislocation fee, housing allowance and schooling allowance for their children.

However, he said not all functions of the DOT would be transferred to Cebu. For instance, it would be tedious for the staff of the finance division to travel from Cebu to Manila to process financial matters with the Department of Budget and Management, he said.

Durano said the DOT transfer here will take sometime because the Cebu City government is still studying soil samples at the South Reclamation Project where the DOT building will be constructed.

Unless the city government completes the soil study, he said the final design of the DOT building will not be drafted.

Once he formally assumes the position, Durano said he will ensure that the DOT is ready to implement the McKenzie study.

He said President Arroyo wants him to implement the recommendation of the American-based consultancy firm to make the country’s tourism industry consumer-driven.

The McKenzie study has recommended tourism development assistance for Subic, Cebu, Boracay, Palawan and Bohol.

Durano is one of two Cebuanos appointed by Mrs. Arroyo to her Cabinet. The other is Cerge Remonde who now heads the Government Media Group.

Durano said that even if there will be no representative in Cebu’s fifth district for the moment, infrastructure projects there will not be affected.

He gave assurance that all projects that have been lined up are funded, thus their implementation would follow. — Freeman News Service