Greetings!

Office of the Governor

Province of Kalinga

MESSAGE

Cordillera provinces over the years, have been in transition – as Mountain Province (composed then of now Cordillera provinces including Baguio City), divided between Region 1 and 2, then declared under the Corazon Aquino government as Cordillera Administrative Region as provided for by Executive Order 220.

Now, the provinces of Kalinga, Apayao, Benguet, Ifugao, Mountain Province and Abra, including Baguio City are once again in the threshold of charting their destiny as a region.

Regional autonomy, as provided for under the Philippine Constitution is now being deliberated and bills to this effect have already been filed in the Senate and Lower House.

But like in cooking rice, this has to be “malinay” or cooked well so that whatever aspirations Cordillerans want, these would be deliberated and decided upon in a free and informed process under a democratic setup.

For sure, the road to autonomy maybe paved with rocks and thorns, but then, if that is really what people want -- for sure a Cordillera Autonomous Region will be borne.

In the meantime, it seems the region’s constituents are comfortable under an administrative setup.But then, as time passes by, change is imminent as the region would need more jobs to address an increasing population, food to feed more children, businesses to make the economy flourish, mechanisms to sustain the environment and good laws and policies to ensure that nobody would be left out.

As we commemorate the founding of the CAR, let us ponder and interact more on the direction we would be taking – as a region.

From Kalinga, Congratulations to everyone!

HON. JOCEL BAAC

GOVERNOR

PROVINCE OF KALINGA