Dominguez discounts big spending for creation of new departments

FILE: Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III in Malacañang on January 8, 2018. TOTO LOZANO/Presidential Photo

MANILA – Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III does not expect the creation of new departments, which President Rodrigo R. Duterte called for in his fourth State of the Nation Address (SONA), to cost so much because existing offices will be utilized.

The President called on Congress to hasten the passage of measures creating departments that will focus on water resources and water regulation, disaster resilience, and Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs).

Dominguez said there are existing offices that focus on these subjects such as the Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA) for water.

He, thus, cited that “when they say a new department they just want a brighter focus on it.”

“(It) doesn’t necessarily mean a very big expenditure because a lot of the units are existing so it will probably be, I don’t know, maybe 10 percent more for the organization of the secretaries’ office or what. So essentially the units are already existing,” he said.

Dominguez explained that since there are existing offices that focus on these matters “you are just adding focus and leadership and putting the thing together so that there is better coordination.”

“I don’t know the exact cost but I don’t expect it to be very high. It’s not like when we create a province,” he added.