e-Bulletin – Vol. 5, Issue No. 08 (26 March 2024)

by | Mar 27, 2024 | Info Notes

Leaders Forum conducts first regular meeting for 2024

The Leaders Forum (LF), together with its technical working group (TWG), concluded its first Regular Meeting for 2024 last 22 March at the St. Giles Hotel, Makati City.

The Confederation of Danish Industry (DI), ECOP’s sister organization in Denmark, visited the Philippines to join the said meeting. DI was represented by its Director of Projects and Partnerships – India, Mr. Tobias Hansen. Its trade union counterpart, the Danish Trade Union Development Agency (DTDA), was also in attendance and was represented by Mr. Morten Winther Nielsen, Head of Office – DTDA Manila, and Mr. Alvin Naboya, International Programme Officer. Former DOLE Undersecretary and Professor Emeritus of the University of the Philippines – School of Labor and Industrial Relations (UP-SoLaIR), Dr. Rene Ofreneo, was also invited as a consultant for the meeting.

For 2024, the LF agreed to start actual work and operationalize the discussions on priority thematic areas where both parties look eye to eye. These areas include:

1. Lowering the Cost of Power
2. Just Transition (Promoting Green, Inclusive, and Sustained Growth)
3. Traffic, Mass Transport, and Fuel Issues
4. Accessible Healthcare

5. Agro-Industrial Policy

The thematic areas, collectively called as the “Employer & Labor Accord on Social and Economic Sustainability“, shall be developed into policy papers which will be submitted to the government and communicated to other stakeholders and sectors.

The LF agreed to include decent work principles, skills development (training, upskilling, and reskilling), and gender equality and inclusion, as overarching guiding principles for its upcoming work.
*The Leaders Forum is composed of ECOP, the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and the Philippine Exporters Confederation Inc., representing the employer sector, and the Federation of Free Workers, Sentro ng mga Nagkakaisa at Progresibong Manggagawa, and the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines, representing the workers.

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Edgardo Lacson

Chairman of the Board

Edgardo G. Lacson is currently the Chairman of the Board of the Employers Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP), and Director of the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE). He was formerly President and Honorary Chairman of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI).  He was the President of ECOP from 2010 to 2016. Ed Lacson also serves as the President of various business firms, including MIS Maritime Corporation, Safe Seas Shipping Agency, Marine Industrial Supply Corporation, and EML Realty. He serves as Chairman of Metrostore Corporation, MIL Export Philippines, Beacon Environmental Management Services and Primelode, among others.

He is likewise Trustee of both the De La Salle Canlubang, Inc. and Philippine Petroleum Sea Transport Association (PHILPESTA), Managing Director of Link Edge, and a member of the Management Association of the Philippines (MAP), Philippine Interisland Shipping Association (PISA), and Makati Business Development Council (MBDC).

An alumnus of then De La Salle College and now De La Salle University where he earned his degree in Bachelor of Science in Commerce (BSC) Major in Accounting, Ed Lacson indeed through the years has expanded his horizons.

Edgardo Lacson serves as Honorary Chairman at PCCI. His previous business affiliations include the Philippine National Oil Company (PNOC), Marine Chemical Corporation, VLK Traders Philippines, Inc., and Esso Standard Eastern.