Duterte urged to convene LEDAC

MANILA, Philippines – Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Raymund Villafuerte urged President Duterte to convene the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC) to tackle urgent measures pending in Congress.

“The council should meet at the soonest possible time so it could take up, among others, the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) election in October amid growing clamor for its postponement,” Villafuerte said in a statement.

“We laud the administration’s resolve to promote a much better working relationship between the executive and legislative branches of government through the LEDAC,” he said.               

Villafuerte is hoping the President would convene the council “on a regular basis to facilitate the speedy approval of priority bills in both the Senate and the House.”

Duterte’s predecessor, former president Benigno Aquino III, rarely called the consultative council to a meeting.

According to presidential legislative liaison officer Bernardino Sayo, LEDAC met only twice during Aquino’s six-year watch.

“Certain priority measures got stuck up in Congress in the past administration apparently because of the lack of better coordination between the executive and legislative branches, a hitch that could have probably been avoided had LEDAC been convened on a regular basis,” Villafuerte said.

He said the proposed postponement of the barangay and SK election is the most important legislative measure the council should tackle, noting Oct. 31 is fast approaching.

“There has to be a consensus among senators and congressmen so that a postponement bill could be passed soon.”

The lawmaker has filed House Bill 1290, which seeks to postpone the barangay and SK election to Feb. 27, 2017 to give the Commission on Elections (Comelec) ample time to address issues raised during the May 9 polls.

“This will also give breathing space to all those who were directly involved in the May 9, 2016 elections – from the Comelec officials and employees to the teachers, members of civic and religious organizations, public officials and the voters themselves,” Villafuerte said.

He authored another bill that proposes to synchronize the barangay and SK polls with the election of delegates to a constitutional convention (con-con) that would rewrite the Charter.

That was when Duterte was still advocating con-con as the mode for Charter change (cha-cha). Due to budget constraints, the President has changed his mind and is now supporting proposals to convene Congress as a constituent assembly (con-ass) to do cha-cha.