Hocog warns of move to dissolve CDA

Rep. Victor Hocog (I-Rota) warned the Commonwealth Development Authority’s board Tuesday that a new move might be afoot within the government to dissolve the agency.

Any plan to put an end to CDA would prove harmful to the government, Hocog said in public comments during the board’s monthly meeting. Yet he believes the agency could see an executive order by Gov. Benigno Fitial or some other such effort in the near future with that aim.

“The thing that I’m worried about is a forthcoming E.O. for CDA,” Hocog said. “That also is going to be very detrimental to the present course of direction CDA is taking.”

Hocog’s warning comes after persistent rumors surfaced earlier this year that CDA would face a fate similar to that of the Commonwealth Ports Authority, according to CDA board chair Pedro Itibus. CPA’s board of directors resigned at the urging of the Fitial administration in June. The governor later issued an executive order declaring a “state of emergency” at CPA and placing it, along with the local airport, under his control.

Responding to Hocog’s word of caution, Itibus asked him directly, “Are you saying there is a new move to dissolve CDA?”

Hocog answered in general terms.

“I believe that there is a course of direction that will be forthcoming and I have advised the administration that it is not the right direction, like CPA,” he said, adding later in an interview that government officials have already drafted a plan for CDA’s dissolution and that “as of this morning, I have heard that plan is still active.”

After the meeting, Itibus noted rumors that the Fitial administration wants to “merge CDA with Commerce” in a bid to streamline the government’s collections on loans. These rumors, he said, began before Fitial issued the executive order for CPA, but they have since continued.

Charles Reyes, the governor’s spokesman, confirmed later in the day that the administration has considered such a move but that it would probably require the passage of legislation because CDA is an independent agency rather than a government division over which Fitial would have direct control.

In related news, the CDA board delayed action on a request by the owners of the LaoLao Bay Golf Resort for a series of tax relief measures connected to the resort’s multi-million dollar expansion project. A CDA staffer said the delay is due to the absence of data from the Department of Finance’s Division of Taxation and Revenue.

CDA expects to hold a second meeting later this week to issue its recommendation once the data is available to complete its report, the staff said.