Malacañang fails to invite Robredo to 2nd Ledac meeting

Pia Ranada

This is AI generated summarization, which may have errors. For context, always refer to the full article.

Malacañang fails to invite Robredo to 2nd Ledac meeting
(UPDATED) Vice President Robredo says she is unfazed by the incident, saying she will still submit a position paper on discussions which took place during the meeting

MANILA, Philippines (UPDATED) – Malacañang failed to invite Vice President Leni Robredo to the second Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (Ledac) meeting held on Tuesday, August 29.

Robredo was not in the list of officials who attended the meeting held on Tuesday night.

Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia, National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) chief, confirmed to Rappler that Robredo was not invited.

NEDA, which is the principal Ledac secretariat, is in charge of setting the agenda for the meetings but Malacañang sends out the invitations to Ledac members and other guests.

Pernia said Malacañang staff had informed him that the Office of the Vice President had been following up with them if Robredo would attend the meeting.

Since his office has no powers to decide on who gets invited, Pernia said he “left it at that” and waited for news from Malacañang if they made a final decision on the matter.

But Monday, August 28, was a busy day for President Rodrigo Duterte who, Pernia said, ultimately decides on who attends the Ledac. He said it was likely that Duterte or his staff simply forgot to invite the Vice President.

“Siguro hindi na (Maybe no more), they were not able to attend to it. I don’t know the reason. I don’t want to impute anything,” the NEDA chief said.

A Palace official said it is the Cabinet Secretariat, under of the office of Cabinet Secretary Leoncio Evasco Jr, which sends out invitations to Ledac meetings.

A source from the Robredo camp said they did follow up with Malacañang in the days leading up to the Ledac meeting.

Instead of an invitation, Robredo’s office was asked to just submit a “position paper,” said the source.

Vice President Robredo confirmed all of this later on Tuesday and said that because the law creating Ledac states she is a member, she will still submit a position paper on what was discussed at the meeting.

“For us, we do the best we can despite the roadblocks. If we aren’t allowed to attend, we will submit a position paper. So, in effect, we were still able to participate,” she said.

Robredo does not think Duterte himself is to blame for her not being sent an invitation.

“I’m not sure if that’s at the level of the President because there is a secretariat handling Ledac,” she said.

Previously, Special Assistant to the President Bong Go had said she was invited to the first meeting as “mandated” by Republic Act 7640, the law that created the Ledac. Under the law, the Vice President is a member of the council.

Robredo was invited to the first Ledac meeting last January 30.

The Ledac advises the President on programs, policies, and laws necessary to achieving the goals of the administration.

Established during the Ramos administration, the Ledac is a venue for executive and legislative branches to discuss the laws needed for priority programs and targets of the government.

The Ledac is chaired by the President and its members include the Vice President, Senate President, House Speaker, 7 Cabinet members, 3 senators, 3 House members, and one representative each from local government, youth, and the private sector. – With a report from Mara Cepeda/Rappler.com

Add a comment

Sort by

There are no comments yet. Add your comment to start the conversation.

Summarize this article with AI

How does this make you feel?

Loading
Download the Rappler App!
Sleeve, Clothing, Apparel

author

Pia Ranada

Pia Ranada is Rappler’s Community Lead, in charge of linking our journalism with communities for impact.