Kalinga solon pushes Cordillera autonomy

By Dexter A. See  

TABUK, CITY, Kalinga – Rep. Manuel S. Agyao urged Cordillerans to have faith and trust on the renewed quest for regional autonomy saying it is the ultimate way for the neglected local governments comprising the Cordillera Administrative Region to oblige the national government to infuse more development funds for the region.

Speaking before 800 individuals who participated in the joint Regional Development Council in the Cordillera and congressional consultation on autonomy, Agyao, who is one of the principal authors of House Bill 5595 that seeks to establish a Cordillera Autonomous Region, explained it is difficult for local governments in the region to avail of more funds from the national government to bankroll the implementation of their desired development projects because of the criteria on population and land area being applied, thus, provinces, cities and municipalities in the region which are members of the Club 22 poorest provinces and with lesser population and land area still remain at the back of the race in the quest for more funds.

            

“Our Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) is small compared to the IRA of Pangasinan, Isabela, Nueva Ecija and other big provinces in the archipelago. We are lucky in the Cordillera and Muslim Mindanao that we are given the opportunity by the Constitution to become autonomous and oblige the national government to plow back more development funds to improve our socio-economic standing and infrastructure state,” Agyao said, citing that it is now high time to grab the opportunity being given Cordillerans by the Constitution to achieve self-governance.

            

According to Agyao, HB 5595 encompasses provisions that guarantee the independence of all local governments comprising the autonomous region, thus, it is not true that poorer local governments will be sharing from the resources of richer local governments.

           

 “We have to be united and passionate about our quest for regional autonomy now in order to send a message to the national government that we mean business  to achieve self-governance,” Agyao added, claiming that Cordillera local government are now lagging behind in terms of development, thus, Cordillerans should now wake up and strongly advocate for self-governance before it will be too late and thereby losing the chance to avail of the privileges of an autonomous region.

            

The senior Cordillera lawmaker rallied Kalinga electorate to internalize the provisions of the autonomy bill now pending in the House committee on appropriations so that they will not be misled by critics on the pending measure in both the House and the Senate.

           

 Agyao said Cordillerans must have the faith to the autonomy advocates regionwide since they are the ones charting the future development of the region and to trust them as they will not compromise the state of the region in fighting for the immediate passage of the autonomy measure but instead, they are preparing the ground work for a much improved and developed Cordillera that will be enjoyed and treasured by present and future generations.

           

 Agyao argued there is no valid ground to compare the state of the Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) to the autonomy being proposed for the Cordillera since the two places have distinct people, culture and traditions among others.