Groups hit draft autonomy law for Cordillera Region

BAGUIO CITY – Non government and cause oriented groups assailed the adaption of the Regional Development Council of a draft autonomy law for the Cordillera prepared by the Third Autonomy Act Drafting Committee.

Although RDC officials said this was subject to amendments in the future even if the same will be filed in Congress as a bill, members of the militant Cordillera People’s Alliance said this was not done through comprehensive consultations with the people hence, it did not reflect the people’s will.

The RDC recently officially adapted the draft autonomy law during a special meeting and approved a resolution transmitting the working draft to the seven Cordillera congressmen fur further study and for the filing of the appropriate bill in Congress for the creation of an autonomous region in the Cordillera.

Moreover, the RDC-CAR requested the six provinces, two cities and seventy five towns to pass corresponding resolutions encouraging their lawmakers to file the necessary autonomy bill in Congress as well as support its passage in order to show the region’s unity and desire to achieve autonomous status within the next two years.

Mayor Mauricio Domogan, who also chairs the TAADC, said “by showing the unity of the region in the renewed quest for self-governance, the national government will not hesitate to support the same but if disunity will be evident, it will be easy for the hierarchy to shoot down the proposed autonomous status for the region which will put an end to the long overdue quest for self-rule.”

He said salient points of the approved working draft will be the guaranteed greater powers of the regional government to have control of the region’s resources and establish a permanent regional identity for the Cordillera; no diminution of powers and benefits of local government units comprising the autonomous region; nationally paid officials and employees will continue to be nationally paid without diminution of benefits; provision of P10 billion annual subsidy for the first five years and another P5 billion for the next five years with each municipality guaranteed a share of P10 million and P1 million each for every barangay and that the national government will continue providing the needed support to the regional autonomous government even after the subsidy similar to what is being done to the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao.

For his part, Benguet Rep. Ronald M. Cosalan said he will still subject the working draft to consultations with the different sectors in the province in order to gather their consensus before deciding whether or not to be a co-author of the Cordillera autonomy bill in Congress once the same will be filed.

However, he added Cordillera congressmen will be discussing the timetable of the passage of the bill into law since it will be difficult to meet the April 2012 deadline as it is difficult to get the support of other lawmakers to approve the same, especially when it will be one year prior to an election as they are busy already indirectly campaigning in their districts.

Domogan said autonomy will be the region’s tool to fastrack its development after it was left behind in terms of development by other regions, thus, the need to catch up with the pace of development of other developed regions.