All-party summit set May 3-5

Three major parties agreed yesterday to hold the first political summit on May 3 to 5.

The agreement was reached during a meeting among leaders of the ruling Lakas-NUCD, the opposition Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino (LDP) and the pro-administration Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC).

Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr., Lakas national chairman, said the political summit aims to get political groups to work together for the common national development agenda.

"The conference should send a major signal that the political leaders of this country, realizing that we are lagging behind our neighbors, should now get together and set a common strategy for the future," he said.

Besides De Venecia, those who attended yesterday’s preparatory meeting were Sen. Edgardo Angara and House Minority Leader Carlos Padilla for the LDP and Tarlac Rep. Gilbert Teodoro for the NPC.

Teodoro heads the NPC bloc in the House and is a nephew of San Miguel Corp. chairman Eduardo Cojuangco Jr., the party’s founder and chief financier.

Rep. Robert Ace Barbers (Lakas, Surigao del Norte), chairman of the House accounts committee, and Rep. Enrique Garcia (LDP, Bataan) also attended the meeting.

Padilla said he and his colleagues agreed that the conference should focus on a general framework of cooperation to speed up the enactment of measures that would move the economy and the nation forward.

He said no divisive issue such as proposals to amend the Constitution to change the form of government would be in the agenda of the political summit.

"We will achieve nothing if we tackle potentially divisive issues," he added.

He also said the representatives of the three major political parties agreed to study Angara’s proposal for the immediate allocation of P1 billion out of the coconut levy funds for the benefit of coconut farmers.

Another proposed piece of legislation that would be looked into is De Venecia’s draft bill seeking reforms in election campaign practices and activities, including fund-raising.

The Speaker furnished those who attended the meeting copies of his bill.

An organizing committee will be formed to attend to preparations and invitations to be extended to other political groups, including Education Secretary Raul Roco’s Aksyon Demokratiko and PDP-Laban, which is led by Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr.