THE COLUMBIA Tower along Ortigas Avenue in Mandaluyong City may soon get some vacancies after a longtime occupant said it would move out. We’re talking about the Department of Transportation, now headed by Arthur Tugade, who made known his plan to move the DOTr to the Clark Freeport Zone in Pampanga.
Yes, Columbia Tower occupies a prime location, not to mention a stunning view of the lush greenery in the Wack Wack Golf and Country Club. We can imagine many a transportation secretary gaze at the scenery as a short respite from their seemingly endless problems. Nowadays, the tower suffers from nightmarish traffic along Ortigas Avenue.
Tugade, who used to head Clark Development Corp., said moving their office was part of Duterte’s call to decongest Metro Manila. So far, it was just the DOTr that was moving, and not its other crucial attached agencies in the city.
It would also happen fairly soon. Tugade, who has a reputation for demanding rapid action, said he wanted the transfer done by the first quarter of 2017 ìat the earliestî and the second quarter at the latest.
One more reason to move, surprisingly, had to do with cutting unnecessary expense.
Apparently, apart from the two floors the DOTr leases, it has been paying rent for a number of other offices it should not be shouldering. Tugade admitted that he did not understand this arrangement so it seemed prudent to simply end it. Miguel R. Camus
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