IMPLEMENTING RULES AND REGULATIONS (IRR) OF RA 7640

The following rules and regulations are hereby issued pursuant to Sec. 8 of RA 7640, otherwise known as An Act Constituting the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC).

RULE I

DECLARATION OF POLICY

It is the policy of the State to formulate, after consultations with appropriate public agencies, the private sector, and local government units, socio-economic development programs taking into account the requirement of conservation and ecology and in accordance with its constitutional mandate to promote more equitable distribution of opportunities, income, wealth; a sustained increase in the amount of goods and services produced by the nation for the benefit of the people: an expanding productivity as the key to raising the quality of life for all, especially the underprivileged.

RULE II

DEFINITION OF TERMS

Section 1. Except as otherwise provided by these rules, the following terms are defined as follows:

"National Development Plan" refers both to the Medium-Term Philippine Development Plan and the Perspective Plan. The Medium-Term Philippine Development Plan is a plan containing specific socio-economic development goals, objectives, policies and strategies that will be pursued within a six-year period. The Perspective Plan, on the other hand, lays down long-term socio-economic goals and broad strategies in support thereof which will be carried out within a period of ten years or more.

"Official Development Assistance (ODA)" refers to the financial and non-financial grants and concessional loans to developing countries provided by bilateral and multilateral institutions, including state and local governments or their executive agencies. It has the following characteristics: (i) administered with the objective of promoting the economic development and welfare of developing countries; (ii) concessional in character and contains a grant element of at least 25%.

"Legislative Agenda" means a program of proposed legislations to support policies and programs of government.

"Regional Development Plans" refer to the Medium-Term Regional Development Plan covering a six-year period, the formulation of which was coordinated by the NEDA Regional Offices and approved by the Regional Development Councils.

"Regional Development Council (RDC)" refers to the primary institution which coordinates and sets the direction of all development efforts in the region. It also serves as a forum where local efforts can be related and integrated with national development activities.

"Local Development Council (LDC)" is the main advisory arm of the local chief executive in setting the direction and coordinating development efforts in their respective territorial jurisdictions. It includes the Provincial Development Councils (PDC), City Development Councils (CDC), Municipal Development Councils (MDC) and the Barangay Development Councils (BDC).

"Private sector" refers to any person, entity or organization who or that is not part of government. It includes, among others, non-government organizations (NGOs), people’s organizations (POs), members of the business community or business groups, cooperatives, schools, professional organizations, civic clubs and plain citizens or individuals who are not members of any organization.

Non-Governmental Organization" refers to private, non-profit voluntary organization, including schools, that is committed to the task of socio-economic development and established primarily for service which may include giving assistance to citizens or people’s organizations in various ways as by educating, training or giving financial assistance to them.

People’s Organizations" refer to independent community and/or class-based associations established to protect and advance the interests of specific causes or sectors, e.g. labor, farmers, fishermen, peasants, women and students. POs are concrete expressions of people’s participation and concerted action at the grassroots level, functioning as vehicles for mobilizing communities in the pursuit of their aspirations. They likewise serve as schools for raising the people’s consciousness on key issues that affect their lives and training the people’s own leaders and organizers.

RULE III

ROLE AND FUNCTIONS OF THE COUNCIL

Section 1. Role of the Council – The LEDAC, hereinafter referred to as the Council, shall be an advisory and consultative mechanism to ensure consistency in coordinating executive development planning and congressional budgeting.

Section 2. Functions of the Council – The Council shall perform the following functions:

1. Determine and recommend socio-economic development goals and policies which shall guide the formulation and implementation of the national development plan;

2. Provide policy advice to the President on vital issues affecting socio-economic development of the country;

3. Direct the study of measures to ensure that the regional development plans and programs are integrated into the national development plan;

4. Receive and in appropriate cases, require reports on and study measures to improve the implementation of official development assistance from multilateral and bilateral entities;

5. Assess effectiveness of implementation of the national development plan;

6. Recommend the integration of environmental concepts, principles and practices into the national development plan for a balanced and cohesive approach to national development;

7. Review the relationship of the legislative agenda to the national development plan to ensure the integration of both; and

8. Study and recommend to the President and to Congress sources of revenue as well as measures to reduce unnecessary expenditures to the end that the resources of the government will be used to the optimum.

RULE IV

COMPOSITION OF THE COUNCIL

Section 1. The Council shall be composed of twenty (20) members with the President as Chairman and the following as members:

Vice-President;

President of the Senate;

Speaker of the House of Representatives;

Seven (7) members of the Cabinet to be designated by the President;

Three (3) members of the Senate to be designated by the President of the Senate, at least one of whom shall come from the dominant minority party;

Three (3) members of the House of Representatives to be designated by the Speaker of the House of Representatives at least one of whom shall come from the dominant minority party;

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.

Section 2. The membership in the Council by members of the Legislature shall be an extension of their legislative functions while that of the members of the Cabinet shall be in an ex-officio capacity.

RULE V

PROCESS OF SELECTING SECTORAL

REPRESENTATIVES TO THE COUNCIL

Section 1. General criteria for the selection of sectoral representatives – Representatives of the local government units (LGUs), youth and private sector to the Council shall be selected on the basis of the following criteria:

1. a good grasp of national development issues;

2. demonstrated leadership and competence in the sector concerned; and

3. currently occupying a position of influence in the sector to be represented.

Section 2. LGU representative. – The President may appoint the LGU representative from among the heads of the Leagues of Governors, City Mayors, Municipal Mayors and of the Liga ng mga Barangays, having in mind the prescribed criteria.

Section 3. Youth representative. – The Chairman of the National Federation of Sangguniang Kabataan shall represent the youth sector in an ex-officio capacity.

Section 4. Private sector representative. – The President may appoint the private sector representative from among the shortlist of nominees submitted by the NEDA. For this purpose, the NEDA shall invite nominations from the various private sector groups and, guided by the general criteria for selection herein mentioned, prepare a shortlist of nominees for submission to the President.

Section 5. The private sector representative shall serve for a term of two (2) years. The President may, however, reappoint that private sector representative provided that person shall not serve for more than six (6) years.

RULE VI

RELATIONSHIP WITH THE NEDA BOARD,

THE CABINET AND ITS CLUSTERS,

AND OTHER RELEVANT BODIES

Section 1. The LEDAC shall be an independent advisory body to the President. It is independent of the NEDA Board, the Cabinet and its Clusters, and of other existing advisory bodies on socio-economic development both in the Executive and the Legislative branches. The Council however, may consult such other bodies for their views, comments, positions on certain development issues. Decisions, resolutions, recommendations emanating from the Council shall be submitted directly to the President.

Section 2. The Council may call on any government agency or any private institution or resource person for assistance.

RULE VII

COUNCIL SUB-COMMITTEES

Section 1. Subcommittees – The Council may form its own subcommittees as may be needed.

RULE VIII

COUNCIL SECRETARIAT

Section 1. Council Secretariat – The National Economic and Development Authority Secretariat shall serve as the principal secretariat of the Council. It shall be assisted by the Presidential Management Staff of the Office of the President and the economic planning staffs of both the Senate and House of Representatives. These staffs shall identify specific units or personnel designated to handle council matters. The Council may hire full time personnel to complement the Secretariat as may be necessary.

Section 2. The Secretariat shall have the following duties and responsibilities:

1. Provide technical and administrative support to the Council and its sub- committees, if any;

2. Determine and prepare the agenda for and the minutes of the Council meetings;

3. Serve as venue for the initial processing/discussion of issues prior to deliberation by the Council;

4. Receive and prepare communications pertinent to the work of the Council;

5. Manage and maintain the official records of the Council;

6. Prepare the annual budget of the Council;

7. Prepare reports as required by the Council; and

8. Perform other duties as may be assigned by the Council.

Section 3. The NEDA Secretariat as principal secretariat shall oversee and coordinate the provision of overall technical and administrative support to the Council.

The PMS of the Office of the President shall, among others, be responsible for liaising between the Council and OP agencies, and facilitating the generation by said agencies, of information and inputs that are required by, or need to be brought to the attention of , the Council. Similarly, the economic planning staffs of the Senate and House of Representatives shall, among others, be responsible for liaising with the various Committees/Units of the Senate and House and facilitating the generation by said Committees/Units, of information and inputs that are required by, or need to be brought to the attention of, the Council.

RULE IX

MEETINGS OF THE COUNCIL

Section 1. Presiding Officer – The Chairman shall preside over the meetings of the council.

Section 2. Quorum – A simple majority of all members of the Council shall constitute a quorum. In the absence of a quorum, the council members present may discuss the items in the agenda and make the necessary recommendations to the Council for consideration in its next meeting.

Section 3. Schedule of regular meetings – The Council shall meet on first Monday of every quarter. Each member shall be duly notified of the time and place before the meeting.

Section 4. Special meetings – The Chairman shall convene the Council to such special meetings as may be necessary. Each member shall be notified of the date, time and place at least one day before the meeting.

Section 5. Venue - The meeting of the Council whether special or regular shall be held in Malacañang unless otherwise specified by the Chairman.

Section 6. Decisions and resolutions – The decisions of the Council shall be concurrence of a majority of the members constituting a quorum.

Section 7. Minutes of the meeting – The minutes of the meeting shall be prepared by the Council Secretariat.

RULE X

PRIORITY CONCERNS

Section 1. The Council shall give special attention to measures which will:

1. Involve concerned private sector, relevant non-government groups and people’s organization in the process of economic planning by national agencies and by regional, provincial, and other local development councils, as well as in monitoring the implementation of development projects;

2. Bring about effective integration of the priority development programs and projects proposed by regional, provincial and other local development councils into the national development plan, within the constraints of national budget;

3. Accelerate the study and formulation of projects and programs which will answer priority needs of the people for livelihood and social services, and which may be funded from national revenue and or grants and concessional loans from external sources;

4. Hasten the utilization of grants and concessional loans for priority development projects and programs while also improving the efficiency of project implementation ; and

5. Recommend the strengthening of mechanisms for monitoring the implementation of development projects and programs and for promoting efficiency of execution and timeliness of completion.

RULE XI

REPORTING AND MONITORING MECHANISM

Section 1. The executive, legislative and private sector members shall be responsible for reporting to the Cabinet, Congress and respective private sector organizations on the actions taken by the Council with respect to its priority concerns.

RULE XII

TRANSITORY PROVISIONS

Section 1. For the selection of the initial LGU and private sector representatives to the Council, the NEDA Secretariat shall draw up a shortlist of candidates guided by the criteria as provided in Section 1 Rule V. The President may appoint the LGU and private sector representatives from the shortlist.

Section 2. Convening the LEDAC – The Secretariat of the Council shall cause the convening of the first meeting of the Council for the purpose of promulgating the Implementing Rules and Regulations of RA 7640.

RULE XIII

ADMINISTRATION OF COUNCIL FUNDS

Section 1. Administration of Funds – The NEDA Secretariat shall administer the funds of the Council as appropriated under Sec. 9 of RA 7640 and shall be responsible for the preparation of the budget and administration of the necessary appropriation of the Council.

RULE XIV

EFFECTIVITY

Section 1. Effectivity - These rules and regulations shall take effect upon approval.

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