PCCI president named private sector rep to Ledac

Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) president George Barcelon was appointed private sector representative to the Legislative Executive Development Advisory Council (Ledac).

The Ledac serves as a mechanism for consensus-building among the executive and legislative branches of the government and key stockholders on vital issues affecting the socioeconomic and development goals of the country.

In a statement on Friday, the country’s largest business organization said Barcelon’s appointment papers were signed by Pesident Marcos Jr. on Nov. 21.

The PCCI president was also the Ledac private sector representative during the time of former President Rodrigo Duterte.

“I am extremely honored for the trust and confidence of the President. As PCCI head, I vow to commit to work proactively and harmoniously with the government to realize its vision in providing employment to Filipinos, eradicating poverty and achieving a resilient economy,” Barcelon said in a statement.

Aside from the President, who is chair of the 20-member council, the other members are the Vice President, Senate President, Speaker of the House of Representatives, seven members of the Cabinet designated by the President, three members of the Senate, three members of the House of Representatives, a local government unit representative, a youth sector representative and a private sector representative.

In October, the PCCI held its yearly business conference, which culminated with the submission of 10 resolutions to the government which they hoped would be implemented under the Marcos administration to help local businesses thrive post-pandemic.

This wish list included recommended measures on food security, health, employment, education, national security, digitalization, environment and climate change, power, transportation, and international trade.

One of the biggest policy recommendations by the PCCI is the adjustment of the land retention limit from 5 to 24 hectares through the amendment of the Agrarian Reform Law.

Another measure is the amendment to the law that will allow full foreign ownership of solar and wind projects in the country, a move that was addressed earlier this month by a Department of Energy (DOE) circular.

Additionally, the PCCI said that the current administration will prioritize 30 out of 32 total bills approved by Ledac as its Common Legislative Agenda (CLA), 20 of which were the priority measures enumerated by President Marcos in his first State of the Nation Address (SONA).

The most notable of these are the Valuation Reform Bill, the Passive Income and Financial Intermediary Taxation Act (PIFITA), the E-Governance Act, the Internet Transactions Act, and the Government Financial Institutions Unified Initiatives to Distressed Enterprises for Economic Recovery (GUIDE) bill.

Other prominent measures are the Department of Water Resources bill, the Budget Modernization bill, Enactment of an Enabling Law for the Natural Gas Industry, Amendments to the Electric Power Industry Reform Act, Amendments to the Build-Operate-Transfer Law, and the Condonation of Unpaid Amortization and Interests of Loans of Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries.