Leaders of the Senate and House of Representatives met with President Marcos yesterday for the first Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC) meeting of the 20th Congress, tackling the administration’s legislative goals amid intense political noise arising from congressional probes on corruption.
During the meeting in Malacañang, Senate President Vicente Sotto III and House Speaker Faustino Dy III led their respective chambers in calling for the passage of mostly socio economic reform measures.
“These priorities reflect our collective effort to ensure that policies are both responsive to the immediate needs of the people and consistent with our long-term development goals,” said Sotto.
Their discussions focused on the importance of supporting inclusive agriculture and livelihood programs to boost rural development, and energy sector reforms to ensure a stable supply and promote sustainability.
Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri and Senator Sherwin Gatchalian joined Sotto at the meeting.
For his part, Dy called for the inclusion of eight new reform measures in the priority legislative agenda.
“We meet today in a spirit of collaborative governance to align our legislative agenda with the Administration’s Philippine Development Plan and its 8-point Socioeconomic Agenda,” Dy said.
He explained that the House legislative agenda for the 20th Congress is anchored on economic growth, stronger social protection, and governance reforms.
Central to this agenda are laws that will secure affordable food, generate sustainable jobs, expand digital connectivity, and raise the quality of public services for all Filipinos.
The Speaker reported that out of the 33 measures identified by the Executive, 32 have already been filed in the House.
He said this early accomplishment “sets a positive tone for our productive collaboration with all branches of government.”
Dy then presented eight new measures for possible inclusion in the LEDAC priority list, among them a Disaster Risk Financing and Insurance Framework to ensure swift and transparent calamity response, and a bill to strengthen the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) by extending its corporate life and opening select lands for development.
The House is also pushing a Presidential Merit Scholarship Program to reward outstanding graduates from low- and middle-income families, and a bill disqualifying relatives of officials up to the fourth degree from government contracts to strengthen integrity in public service.
To safeguard democracy, the chamber seeks to regulate digital campaigning through a Fair Use of Social Media, AI, and Internet Technology in Elections.
It also proposes to modernize the Bureau of Immigration by professionalizing its ranks, adding visa categories, and upgrading border security.
The proposed Rice Industry and Consumer Empowerment (RICE) Act, on the other hand, aims to stabilize prices and empower the National Food Authority, while the Magna Carta for Barangays will institutionalize long-overdue benefits and ensure resources for local officials and communities.
“With the President’s leadership and the collective will of this Council, we are confident that we can achieve these legislative goals,” said Dy.
“The House of Representatives is responding to the people’s clamor by creating laws that have a direct impact on their lives,” he added.
The meeting’s agenda also included the adoption of a Common Legislative Agenda presented by Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan, who also heads the LEDAC Secretariat.
