CPA has new Commissioners

CEBU, Philippines – The Cebu Port Authority (CPA) has a new set of port commissioners but they have yet to receive official communication from the President.

Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte, in an interview over the government-run radio station DZRB the other day, said that the new port commissioners are Vicente Suazo, Jr., Benjamin Akol, Arturo Barrit, Atty. Joselito Pedaria, Carlos Co, and Dennis Villamor.

Suazo is the current CPA general manager while Akol is the president of Philippine Cargo and Stevedoring Operators. Suazo and Akol will be representing the ship owners and the shipping operators.

Barrit, a labor leader from the Associated Labor Union-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (ALU-TUCP) and Pedaria, the legal counsel of ALU-TUCP will represent the cargo handling and stevedoring sector.

Co is former president of the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry and owns the Cebu Oversea Hardware and president of Golden Great Value Properties Inc. He will represent the business sector alongside Villamor, currently the CPA deputy general manager.

The Cebu Port Commission is composed of a chairman, the secretary of the Department of Transportation and Communication and the six commissioners.

The commission's vice chairman shall be elected from among the six commissioners and shall be designated concurrent CPA general manager.

The CPA was created through the enactment of Republic Act No. 7621 signed on June 26, 1992 to administer all ports located in Cebu Province, thus, effectively separating these ports from the Philippine Ports Authority system.

CPA officially took over all Cebu ports on January 1, 1996. (FREEMAN)