CDC top exec quits; Calderon eyed for post?

CLARK FREEPORT, Pampanga – Clark Development Corp. (CDC) president and chief executive officer Liberato Laus confirmed yesterday that he has submitted his resignation effective July 31.

This, amid talk that Malacañang is set to appoint retired former Philippine National Police chief Oscar Calderon to the top CDC post.

In a statement yesterday afternoon, the CDC public affairs office quoted Laus as saying, “It’s true, I’ve written the President a letter expressing my desire to hand over my CDC position effective July 31, 2008.”

Laus submitted his resignation letter weeks ago through Secretary Cerge Remonde, chief of the Presidential Management Staff.

A local daily quoted Pampanga first district Rep. Carmelo Lazatin as saying that the President accepted Laus’ resignation “with perfunctory regrets.”

In his letter, Laus said he wanted “to go back to his business firms and steer them in the direction of the country’s growing economy under the Arroyo administration.”

“I want my companies to take advantage of the gains and growth of the economy under the President,” Laus said.

Edgardo Pamintuan, chairman of the Subic-Clark Alliance for Development Council, said the President “has kept us all guessing what’s next should she accept Laus’ resignation.”

In a telephone interview with The STAR, Calderon said that while he has been frequenting Clark to play golf, he has not received any word from Malacañang about his possible appointment to the CDC.

“I heard there are some civic and religious leaders floating my name, but I don’t know if it’s merely a ploy to pave the way for somebody else to assume the CDC post,” he said.

Calderon, who was appointed head of the Bureau of Corrections only four months ago, however, said that he “serves at the pleasure of the President.”

Apart from having served as chief of the PNP, which he described as a big organization, for over a year, Calderon said he has a master’s degree in management.