MANILA – Vice President Leni Robredo was not invited to the last meeting of LEDAC (Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council), where she is mandated by law to participate.
Robredo was not invited to the meeting on Tuesday (Aug. 29) even if she had contacted Malacañang in the days leading up to the event. This was because, she said, “wala daw clearance na imbitahan ako (there was no clearance to invite me).”
In a transcript provided by the Office of the Vice President on Wednesday of an interview with her during the distribution of assistive devices with Physicians for Peace in Baguio City, she said her office had asked the “secretariat” from Malacañang where the invitation was and what the agenda for the meeting was.
“Pero iyong sagot sa amin, wala daw clearance na imbitahan ako (But the reply to us was, there was no clearance to invite me),” Robredo said.
Asked if this was discussed with President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday, when they both attended the National Heroes’ Day celebration at the Libingan ng mga Bayani in Taguig City, she replied, “Tingin ko naman… Hindi ko alam kung nasa level iyon ng Presidente, kasi mayroon namang secretariat na nag-aasikaso for LEDAC. Nakita ko sa news kanina, si Secretary [Ernesto] Pernia mismo iyong nag-confirm na hinihintay nga nilang—Kasi parang Malacañang yata is the one who sends out the invites. Parang fina-follow up din nila iyong invitation for me, but same yata iyong… same iyong sagot sa amin, na walang clearance to invite me (I think… I don’t know if that is at the level of the President because there is a secretariat that takes care of the LEDAC. I saw in the news earlier that Secretary Pernia himself confirmed that the were waiting for… Because I think Malacañang is the one who sends out the invites. And they were following up on the invitation for me, but I think the answer was… the answer to the both of us was the same, that there was no clearance to invite me).”
Nevertheless she said that because she was mandated by law to participate in the proceedings, she would still submit a position paper on the issues that were taken up in the LEDAC meeting. The position paper would depend on the information that she would receive about the LEDAC meeting, which she expected to get later.
“Pero sa atin naman (for us), we do the best we can despite the roadblocks. Kung hindi tayo ipa-attend, mag-submit tayo ng position paper. Basta in effect, nakapag-participate pa din tayo (Even if we were not allowed to attend, we would still submit a position paper. As long as in effect, we were able to participate),” Robredo said.
According to a press release by the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), 28 measures were approved during the LEDAC meeting as part of the Common Legislative Agenda for the 17th Congress.
They were the following:
Federalism
Unified National Identification System Act*
Security of Tenure Bill (End of Endo/Contractualization)*
National Mental Health Care Delivery System
Occupational Safety and Health Hazards Compliance
Utilization of the Coconut Levy Fund*
Comprehensive Tax Reform*
National Transport Act to address transport traffic crisis*
Budget Reform Act*
National Land Use Act*
Rightsizing of the National Government*
People’s Broadcasting Corporation Charter Bill
Amendments to the Anti-Cybercrime Act*
Genuine Agrarian Reform Bill
Strengthening the Balik-Scientist Program
Philippine Qualifications Framework
Amendments to Republic Act No. 7718, Otherwise Known as the Build-Operate-And-Transfer (BOT) Law
Amendments to the Agricultural Tariffication Act of 1996*
Land Administration Reform Act
Delineation of the Specific Forest Limits
Amendments to the NIA Charter RE: Free Irrigation Act*
Amendment to Public Service Act*
Social Security Act Amendments
Free Higher Education Act
Ease of Doing Business Act/Fast Business Permit Act*
Government Procurement Reform Act Amendments*
Enhanced Universal Health Care Act
Allowable/Recoverable System Loss Act
Those with asterisks were the ones that had been recommended as urgent, meaning, they wished to have the measures passed into law within the year.