‘Cordi autonomy bills have slim chance of passage by Congress’
>> Wednesday, January 2, 2019
As preps for May polls start
BAGUIO
CITY – Bills filed in both Houses of Congress to make the Cordillera autonomous
have slim chance of being passed before the
May 2019 polls.
This, according to
Baguio Mayor Mauricio Domogan and Rep. Mark Go, during an assessment of the
autonomy process here at Ridgebrook Hotel on Dec. 20 by autonomy advocates
headed by the Regional Development Council and regional National Economic
Development Authority.
According to both
officials, it is just a few months away to May polls next year and legislative
officials of the House of Representatives and Senate are busy preparing for
their campaign.
During the assessment,
it was agreed that a more aggressive campaign for Cordillera autonomy should be
done to enhance progress for the region.
But according to
Cordillera NEDA regional director Milagros Rimando, the budget for the campaign
for 2019 was trimmed down to P12 million.
Rimando pushed for more
creative and aggressive ways to inform regional constituents on regional
autonomy.
During the assessment,
it was agreed upon that there was need to search for more local, regional and
national leaders who are willing to sacrifice their time, effort and resources
to make the Cordillera autonomous.
This, following resignation
of Presidential Peace Adviser on the Peace Process Jesus G. Dureza, a staunch
ally of the RDC and Regional Peace and Order Council in bringing to the
attention of national leaders the clamor of the people for self-governance.
Domogan, the RDC-CAR and
RPOC-CAR chairman called on members of the two regional bodies to join forces
in searching for national figures who are willing to champion the region’s
renewed quest for autonomy to lobby lobby for passage of pending autonomy bills
in both chambers of Congress.
Dureza, who was an
adopted son of the Cordillera and given the local name ‘mensapit’ or
peacemaker, vowed to be a champion of the region’s quest for autonomy in the
national scene.
He
initiated the gathering of peace and autonomy pioneers in Mount Data, Bauko,
Mountain Province on April 24, 2017, the first meeting of Cordillerans with
President Rodrigo Duterte in Malacañang on July 18, 2017 and celebration of the
32nd anniversary of the historic Mount Data ‘sipat’ at the Philippine International
Convention Center (PICC) last Sept. 13
“We really need someone
who can sustain our aggressive quest for autonomy, especially at the national
level, so we can send the right message to our decision-makers that
Cordillerans want the immediate establishment of the autonomous region to
ensure the better pace of development in our region,” Domogan said.
Dureza was also
instrumental in facilitating the Cordillera Autonomy Forum with senators in
coordination with the Office of the Presidential Legislative Liaison Office,
the Cotabato-based Institute of Autonomy and governance (IAG) and the RDC-CAR
that paved the way for the filing of number of counterpart bills in the upper
chamber seeking the establishment of the Autonomous Region in the Cordillera.
Last August 14,, the
House committee on local government conducted an initial public hearing on
House Bill 5343 or the Lower House version of the Cordillera autonomy bill
authored by all Cordillera lawmakers which Mindanao lawmakers committed to give
their unrelenting and support for passage of the proposed law.
Since the initial public
hearing of the House committee on the proposed autonomy bill, the same was
never calendared for further deliberations by the committee because the
lawmakers were preoccupied with the budget deliberations for the proposed 2019
national budget and the proposed extension of the declaration of martial law in
Mindanao.
RDC officials and
autonomy stalwarts said they were of the hope that pending autonomy bills in
both chambers will be cleared for deliberations in the committee and plenary
levels right at the start of the regular session next year even if the chances
of the bills having to be enacted into law remains bleak at this point due to
the limited session days as the campaign period for the May 219 mid-term
elections starts.
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