Thursday, August 21, 2008 Government calls off Ledac meet
THE government postponed the holding of the expanded Legislative-Executive Development and Advisory Council (Ledac) meeting on Friday to a later date to enable the military and peace panel to attend the continuation of the oral arguments on the territorial deal at the Supreme Court (SC).
Presidential political adviser Gabriel Claudio said no date yet had been set when the Ledac would be held.
“(The) presence of peace panel, Opapp (Office of Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process), AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) (is) needed with the Solgen (Solicitor General) same day Friday at SC for resumption of oral arguments and hearing of new manifestation of government to undertake review of MOA due to new circumstances,” he said.
He said this new circumstances specifically refers to the attacks made by Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) members in the provinces of Lanao del Norte and North Cotabato.
The expanded Ledac was supposed to focus on the situation in Mindanao including an assessment of the developments in the peace negotiations between the government and the MILF.
Claudio said the expanded Ledac hopes to reinforce previous mechanisms for consultations and dialogue on the Mindanao issue and at the same time address the need for close coordination among the government, the civilian population, and other Mindanao stakeholders.
The meeting was supposed to include congressional leaders, Cabinet members, local executives, sectoral representatives, opposition members, and other stakeholders from Mindanao especially those from areas affected by the recent attacks of suspected MILF members. (JMR/Sunnex)
