Draft Cordi autonomy Organic Act scrutinized

By Aileen P. Refuerzo

BAGUIO CITY – Representatives from the sectors across the region Friday began scrutiny of the provisions of the draft working document of the Third Autonomy Act here during the public forum conducted here at the Baguio City Multi-purpose Hall.

The participants composed of government officials and representatives from the government line agencies, private organizations, socio-civic groups and other sectors from the city and the various provinces of the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) dissected the draft section by section during the forum facilitated by Baguio City Mayor and Third Autonomy Act Drafting Committee (TAADC) chairman Mauricio Domogan, Regional Development Council (RDC) co-chair Dr. Virgilio Bautista and TAADC technical working group chair and private sector representative Alex Bangsoy.

Initial deliberations centered on the preamble and the first 26 sections of the draft act yielding observations and suggestions that border from the trivial to the crucial.

Most of the suggestions made were on improving the style by which the draft act was written including grammar, terminologies and organization, but substantial reactions were also received on crucial sections particularly those that touch on the make-up of the proposed autonomous region, the sources of revenues and the composition of the proposed Regional Legislative Assembly.

The latter drew interesting suggestions on the appropriate number of representatives from the component provinces and city with one suggesting equal number of representation while others batting for population-based representation. A proposal for a gender-based representation also sparked interest.

Domogan said all of the suggestions will be collated by the TAADC and will be considered during the finalization of the act.

“As I said, nothing is permanent yet and everything is still open for changes so continue participating in the consultation process,” the mayor said.

The forum will resume on Monday at 9 a.m. at the same venue and discussions will take off from where the body left off on section 26.

The draft act consists of 139 sections and 17 articles dealing on the following topics: Territory and People; Declaration of Principles and Policies; the Cordillera Autonomous Region; the Regional Legislative Assembly; the Regional Executive Department; Local Government; the Cabinet; Anti-Poverty Council, the Regional Planning and Development Board, the Regional Advisory Council, the Regional Management Staff and Mandatory Positions; Patrimony, Economy and Development;
Sources of Revenues and Other Fiscal Matters; Agriculture, Agrarian Reform, Trade and Industry, Tourism and Cooperatives; Education, Science and Technology, Language, Arts and Culture and Sports; Social, Justice and Welfare; Peace and Order; General Provisions; Amendments or Revisions; Transitory Provisions and Effectivity.