EDITORIAL

Cordillera autonomy what?

Just recently, Juan Ngalob, chairman of the Cordillera Regional Development Council said “sincerity and sensitivity of autonomy advocates coupled with a grassroots information and education campaign would be a key factor in the region’s quest for Cordillera autonomy as enshrined in the 1987 Philippine constitution.”

He was quoted as saying the RDC was “not railroading the long overdue clamor for genuine autonomy contrary to the insinuations of some sectors it is rushing the issue to the people of the region.”

Ngalob said they were sensitive on the observations being raised by some sectors on regional autonomy, thus, they crafted a three-point work plan “to ensure that the people have internalized the true meaning of autonomy.”

According to Ngalob, the region’s policy-making body was sensitive about the peoples observation and comments about self-governance, thus, they opened all its doors on how to improve public perception of the controversial issue. “Autonomy advocates must be sincere and sensitive especially on the various aspects of regional autonomy so that the Cordillera could get the best details of the issue and convert it into an acceptable autonomy law.

The three-phase work program was reportedly the offshoot of the results of a recent survey conducted in all parts of the region which showed 66 percent of Cordillerans were not aware of the quest for regional autonomy as enshrined in the Constitution.

The RDC’s work plan was reportedly spread over the next three years from 2008 to 2010 with the primary goal of laying the ground works for a better understanding of the quest for regional autonomy in the context of spurring economic development in the Cordillera, which has always been left out in the allocation of resources by most government agencies due to its limited population and land area as well as income.

Under the new work program, the RDC will prioritize the information and education campaign, cap activities and project steering and program monitoring, evaluation and continuous action.

The four aspects of the IEC include for the general public, youth, academe, government agencies and other aggravations. “The capability-building activities would strictly focus on capacitating local authorities to effectively and efficiently deliver the basic services to the people much better than what is being currently done by national government agencies through improved resource-generation,” he said.

At the same time, local authorities reportedly be given proper training on how to implement the eight key focus areas of the regional development plan which includes administrative governance, ancestral domain and natural resources, education, resource-generation among others to be able to maximize the utilization of available resources to enhance development in their own areas of jurisdiction.

On the other hand, the project steering, program monitoring and evaluation is focused towards improving the region’s dealings with national agencies and come out with doable plans and programs on how to undertake limited autonomy in the local and regional levels so that the people would have a first-hand experience on what would it take to be an autonomous region in the future.

Ngalob, like the rest of RDC members can yak all they want about autonomy but they should talk where their mouths are. What is happening is they are telling the people what “genuine autonomy” is. Such concept of “genuine autonomy” should emanate from the people – not what government thinks what “genuine autonomy” is.

Those involved in the government’s autonomy drive should also live frugal lives by example should be transparent enough about government funds for the purpose if people were to believe them. For starters, what happened to the P15 million information fund for their thrust for “genuine autonomy? Media plays a large role in information dissemination. There have been no announcements or advertisements placed in the media since the RDC started its so-called information dissemination campaign.