LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Include more from opposition in Ledac

Philippine Daily Inquirer / 04:20 AM October 31, 2022

During the recent election campaign, President Marcos Jr. called for unity among Filipinos. For the sake of unity, the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (Ledac), which was created through Republic Act No. 7640, should not only be composed of representatives from the executive and legislative branches but should also include top leaders from the political opposition. Given the diversity of their platform of governance, the opposition must also have a say on the determination of priority legislative bills.

Section 2 of RA 7640 states: “It shall be composed of twenty (20) members with the President as Chairman and the following as members: the Vice President, the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, seven (7) members of the Cabinet to be designated by the President, three (3) members of the House of Representatives to be designated by the Speaker of the House of Representatives at least one (1) of whom shall come from the dominant minority party, and the following to be appointed by the President: a representative of the local government units, a representative of the youth, and a representative of the private sector from any or a combination of the following: business, cooperatives, agriculture, and labor.”

Amending the aforementioned section is called for to include select leaders from the opposition as Ledac members and not only one from the dominant minority party.

In fine, the decision to prioritize legislative concerns specifically stipulated in Section 6 thereof will not only be a bilateral decision from Ledac members coming from the legislative and executive departments, but also from intraparty representatives of the political opposition.

For the sake of actualizing his call for unity, Mr. Marcos would be on the right side of history if he can push for the amendment of the law creating Ledac.

REGINALD B. TAMAYO,
Marikina City