LA TRINIDAD, Benguet – Amidst clamor of
concerned groups and constituents for Cordillera regional officials to be more
transparent in use of government funds to promote autonomy, only Mountain
Province has fully liquidated money
allotted by the national government.
National Economic Development Authority Cordillera
regional director Milagros Rimando bared this but said all funds released by
the Regional Development Council were being audited in the provincial level and
re-audited by the NEDA and RDC.
Since 2009, a total of P75 million had been
allotted by the national government for the autonomy campaign in the
Cordillera, a primer made by the RDC information education committee of
regional development and autonomy revealed.
Broken down,P18 millionwas released in 2007, P15M in 2008, P15
M in 2010, P12 M in 2011 and P15 M in 2012.
“The RDC follows a Department of Budget and
Management -sanctioned work and financial plan that lists the priority
activities, programs, projects, and activities to be undertaken,” the primer
said. “The appropriations were provided to RDC-Cordillera Administrative Region
for the social preparations of Cordillera for autonomy.”
The primer added: “The amount cannot be used
for other purposes since the General Appropriations Act has specifically
identified which expenditure the money would be used. Using this fund for other
purposes is technical malversation.”
The money was reportedly divided among the
provincial governments of Mountain Province, Benguet, Apayao, Kalinga, Abra,
Ifugao and Baguio City for their “information education campaign.”
Sources from the regional office of the
Commission on Audit said all provinces including Baguio City were not able to
liquidate autonomy funds and may face repercussion if they don’t do so.
Reacting to a question of the media on the
matter, Baguio Mayor Mauricio Domogan said in an earlier forum at Baguio City
Hall that how the funds were used or spent should be published in newspapers so
the people will know.
Critics, even those in government, have said
if the RDC cannot liquidate the autonomy funds and be transparent about it,
then it follows that if the region becomes autonomous, the manner on how billions
of pesos allotted to the Cordillera would be spentis questionable.
During the en banc RDC meeting in La Trinidad
at the provincial capitolthird week of November, Rimando said they were still
waiting for other provinces including Baguio City to liquidate.
Despite these, RDC officials said the special
autonomy funds will not be used for political purposes.
The RDC is composed of provincial governors,
government line agency directors and private sector representatives.
RDC chairman and Kalinga Gov.JocelBaac said
autonomy funds will not be used in political campaign by any politician or
official for their personal uses.
“We do not allow excessive expenditures, we
see to it that they (provinces) spend prudently the amount for this (IEC)
purpose and nothing else,” said Baac. “The NEDA is always transparent on the expenditures
being done with the autonomy fund allocated to the provinces.”
Meanwhile, Rimando presented during the capitol
meeting the recent pulse survey on
renewed pursuit for autonomy commissioned by the RDC and NEDA thhroughthe
National Statistics Office conducted between July to September this year.
In the survey, purported results showed about
46 percent of Cordillera voters are now aware of the renewed pursuit for
regional autonomy and 33.7 percent would
likely go for a “yes” vote if a plebiscite would be held.
Rimando said the likely “yes” vote is an
improvement by 14.8 percent compared to the result of the survey that the RDC
conducted in October 2007 to 2008 where 18.9 percent gave the same answer.
At the provincial level, the likelihood of a
“yes” vote improved in all provinces ranging from a 6.5% improvement in
Mountain Province to a 30.7% improvement in Apayao.
As requested by Cordillera congressmen and barangays, the RDC is encouraging more IEC in the
grassroots level,Rimando said, adding they would be conducting trainings for
speakers who would do IECs in the barangay levels in all municipalities of the region.
The establishment of an autonomous region in
the Cordillera is provided for under the 1987 Constitution. – Alfred
Dizon with a report from MelvicCawis
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