Duterte to convene Ledac to speed up infra projects

President Rodrigo Duterte will convene the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (Ledac) in September or October to accelerate infrastructure development plans in his term, particularly projects that will address the worsening traffic crisis in the metropolis.

Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia said the National Economic Development Authority’s (Neda) infrastructure committee had already identified measures seeking “to address institutional legal and policy issues in relation to infrastructure programs” that would be part of the legislative agenda to be submitted to the Ledac.

Ledac is the consultative and advisory body to the President as head of the national economic and planning agency. The President serves as Ledac chairperson, while Neda serves as the council secretariat.

Pernia said the Duterte administration had been “revitalizing” Ledac after being “dormant” in the previous administration. Former President Benigno Aquino convened the Ledac only twice during his term: first on Feb. 28, 2011, and second, on Aug. 16, 2011.

Pernia said the following measures would be submitted to the advisory council:

• creation of an apex or super body for the water resources sector, proposed to be the Water Resources Department or Authority;

• creation of an independent economic and financial regulator for the water sector;

• the National Transport Policy which ought to coordinate different transport projects so that the movement, the connectivity across regions, and across provinces will be more systematic;

• amendments to the Build-Operate-Transfer or the BOT Law and its IRR, which has to do with hurdling the right of way problems, procurement, and other implementation problems that tend to stymie the rapid processing of projects and implementation of projects;

• amendments to the Electric Power Industry Reform Act or the Epira and amendments to the Water Code of the Philippines

Pernia said among the measures that would decongest Metro Manila roads included the construction of the Bonifacio Global City-Ortigas Link Bridge, which he said was expected to “divert 25 percent of the Edsa traffic,” and the resolution of the common station for elevated railways.

Ledac members are the Vice President, Senate President, Speaker of the House of Representatives, seven Cabinet members to be designated by the President, three senators designated by the Senate President, three members of the House of Representatives to be designated by the House Speaker, a representative of the local government units, and one representative each from the youth and private sectors.