Escolango Goes To Work, SBMA Moves Closer To Normalcy

WORK has piled up but the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) is finally moving after the resulting brief leadership vacuum when the new Chairman rejected the hold-over capacity of erstwhile Chairman & Administrator Roberto V. Garcia as Administrator, and later, Malacañang’s designation of Lawyer Randy B. Escolango as Officer-in-Charge (OIC) of the said office.

President Rodrigo Duterte appointed Martin B. Diño, who assumed office on Oct. 3, 2016,  as SBMA Chairman only. But without an Administrator, there would be no one to run the day-to-day affairs of the SBMA.

“I have a job to do and I intend to do it as mandated by Malacañang,” Escolango told Subic Bay News, referring to the designation issued to him by Executive Secretary Salvador C. Medialdea on behalf of the Office of the President.

Escolango immediately convened the officers and managers of SBMA in a Management Conference (ManCon) to set the agency’s direction.

In paper works alone, Escolango had to spend a great deal of time in his first couple of days as OIC Administrator, sifting through voluminous documents on top of his desk, reading, reviewing and signing, when necessary.

On Tuesday, Escolango launched at the Subic Bay Exhibition and Convention  (SBECC) the SBMA Electronic Billing and Payment System (EBPS), witnessed by close to a thousand Freeport locators and residents.

The EBPS is touted to make payments to SBMA more efficient and pilferage-free, on top of being environment-friendly.

Escolango also presided over the term sheet discussions on business proposals that have not been acted upon due to the leadership issue.

Rendering Garcia ineffective by not recognizing his hold-over capacity, Diño declared himself Administrator on October 10, invoking a provision of Republic Act 7227, the law that created SBMA and the Subic Bay Freeport Zone.

However, Malacañang ignored Diño’s assumption as Administrator, and instead, appeared to have acknowledged the hold-over capacity of Garcia until Oct. 19, 2016, when the latter’s resignation was accepted and on the same day, designated Escolango as SBMA OIC Administrator.

The Administrator is the Chief Executive Officer who directly administers and supervises the operations and day-to-day business activities of the SBMA. The Chairman’s functions are largely limited to presiding in all meetings of the SBMA Board that formulates policies, directives, plans and programs.

Despite the open defiance of Diño on Malacañang’s designation of Escolango, the latter wasted no time in going about the business of SBMA in running the Subic Bay Freeport. “Business can’t wait,” Escolango told Subic Bay News, “the Freeport services both local and international firms, we cannot afford a stand still.”

But while the management aspect in running the SBMA and the Freeport may have been addressed with Escolango’s designation, President Duterte has yet to appoint or name Directors to the SBMA Board.

Diño is SBMA Chairman but he has not presided over a single board meeting since assuming office on October 3 because the SBMA Board of Directors has no members yet. ###