Body to draft Cordillera autonomy law convened

BAGUIO CITY – A body to draft an organic act for the proposed  Cordillera autonomous region was recently convened in preparation for the filing of the Cordillera Organic Act in the 18th Congress of the Philippines.

Along with information, education campaign (IEC) activities, the Cordillera Regional Development Council through National Economic Development Authority-Cordillera Administrative Region convened the Autonomous Region of the Cordillera organic law drafting committee.

The NEDA-CAR through the Social Preparation for CAR into an Autonomous Region (SPCAR) program, conducted numerous events to boost Cordillera autonomy advocacy during the second quarter of 2019.

The committee is composed of public and private sector experts on law, indigenous peoples’ rights, environmental management, government finance, peace and order, education, social development, and other related fields.

This committee was tasked to review House Bill 5343 or the “Act Establishing the Autonomous Region of the Cordillera” filed in the 17th Congress.

Comments and suggested amendments made during the workshop on May 22-24 will be submitted as a proposal to the 18th Congress through the 7 representatives from CAR.

Members of the drafting committee said comments and suggestions gathered from various meetings such as the Cordillera Indigenous Peoples’ Legislative Assembly and the provincial consultations in Baguio-Benguet and Mountain Province in coordination with CAR representatives, all conducted in 2018, were included in the amended bill.

Recently, the NEDA central office funded the study on the fiscal viability of an autonomous Cordillera under its research and development fund.

The team hired for the study has been working closely with NEDA-CAR and agencies like DBM, DILG, BLGF, and BIR, among others to project the financial outlook of the region in the upcoming years with and without regional autonomy.

The study is expected to be concluded and presented in August 2019.

During the election campaign period, NEDA-CAR partnered with PIA and local Cordillera media outlets to include the Cordillera autonomy movement as one of the topics during interviews with national and local candidates.

This strategy aimed to maintain awareness on the Cordillera autonomy advocacy as well as provide a venue for candidates to voice their honest opinions over the Constitutional mandate to achieve autonomy in the Cordillera along with Muslim Mindanao.
             The RDC-CAR continues to implement IEC activities with partners such as the University of Baguio, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE-CAR), and the Commission on Higher Education (CHED-CAR).

Raising awareness through information dissemination is priority of the SPCAR program.