The Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) urged the government to create two new departments on housing and on communication technology. During the Philippine Business Conference and Expo, a three-day event that ended on Friday, the PCCI listed the creation of the two departments among the 41 resolutions they presented to President Benigno Simeon Aquino III. The PCCI called for the creation of:
the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), and the Department of Housing and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (DHUD). The resolution urged President Benigno S. Aquino III to convene the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC) and certify as priority bills the measures proposing the creation of the DICT and the DHUD, among others. As of the moment, there are only the Commission on Information and Communication Technology (CICT) and the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) which are both under the Office of the President. However, during the campaign period, Aquino rejected the idea of turning the CICT into a department, saying it was only a "support mechanism" and that he is reluctant to create new departments. The other measures that the PCCI urged Aquino to certify as urgent are: the freedom of information bill; the Customs modernization or anti-smuggling bill, and the anti-trust bill. The PCCI also urged the government to act on the following: a pending legislation collective investment schemes; electricity rate reduction, and rationalization of fiscal incentives, and land use, among others. Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said on Friday that Malacañang has yet to set a date for the LEDAC meet, which will be Aquino's first as president. "We're working on a date after the [Congress] break, as everyone is busy with the [proposed 2011] budget now," he said in a text message to GMANews.TV. In his State of the Nation Address in July, Aquino said among the bills he wants Congress to prioritize are the anti-trust bill and the national land use bill, which are on the PCCI's list. –VVP, GMANews.TV 
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