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Aquino, Cabinet execs to discuss legislative agenda Tuesday


President Benigno Simeon Aquino III will meet his Cabinet secretaries on Tuesday morning to discuss the 25 proposed bills they want Congress to prioritize. At a press briefing Monday, presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said the meeting is in preparation for the convening of the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC) expected later this month. “The legislative agenda will be the primary agenda [of the meeting]. We will study and firm up the legislative agenda, as discussed in the Cabinet workshops during the previous weeks, to be submitted to the LEDAC," said Lacierda. Cabinet members held a workshop last week to integrate, review, refine and prioritize proposed legislations. Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa, Jr. earlier said 32 bills will be submitted to the President ahead of the LEDAC meeting. He said these measures “are consistent with the President’s social contract with the Filipino people." Ochoa said he hopes the number of priority measures will be trimmed down to 25. He said the objectives of the priority legislative agenda are:

  • addressing poverty and promoting a healthy, educated, and empowered citizenry
  • promoting productivity, generating employment and promoting food sufficiency
  • encouraging more public-private partnerships and promoting a competitive policy environment
  • protecting the sovereignty, ensuring security and promoting the rule of law, and
  • strengthening the capacity of the bureaucracy to govern. The 32 bills have been sourced from 139 proposed bills put forward by Cabinet officials and 41 by the Joint Foreign Chambers of Commerce of the Philippines. Cabinet officials, grouped into five clusters, chose the 32 measures during last week’s workshop. The heads of the five clusters are Vice President Jejomar Binay, Human Development; Economic Secretary Cayetano Paderanga Jr., Economic Development; Public Works Secretary Rogelio Singson, Infrastructure Development; Justice Secretary Leila De Lima, Rule of Law; and Ochoa, Good Governance. Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima earlier said his department is hoping to push for the passage of the fiscal responsibility bill, which will require proposed legislation to have an expenditure feature, and the bill on the rationalization of incentives. The LEDAC was created in 1992 under Republic Act 7640 as a consultative and advisory body to help the President integrate his legislative agenda with the national development plan, among others. It is supposed to convene at least once every quarter. The upcoming LEDAC meeting will be the first under Aquino, which has been in power since June 30, 2010. The advisory council is composed of the President as chairman, the vice president, the Senate president, the House Speaker, seven Cabinet members, three senators, three House members, and one representative each from the local government, the youth, and the private sector. - Amita O. Legaspi/KBK/RSJ, GMANews.TV
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