Gov’t officials push Cordillera autonomy

By Bob Lyndon B. Daroya

BAGUIO CITY – Cordillera autonomy was pushed by national and regional government offices who joined the consultation meeting of the committee on local government technical working group in discussing the Cordillera autonomy bill in a virtual meeting of the TWG, chaired by Rep. Mark Go.
    Dept. of Trade and Industry Cordillera director Myrna Pablo said with Cordillera autonomy, DTI’s development programs and projects would business enterprises resulting in more employment, reduced poverty and a pumped-up economy for the region.
    “Both the regional and head offices of DTI will fully support the objectives of the Cordillera autonomy bill,” Pablo said.
Agriculture regional director Cameron P. Odsey said regional autonomy is needed in developing highland agriculture.
    He said as of now, DA programs are based on national standards which were basically developed for the lowlands. 
Autonomy will allow the region to come up with its own agricultural programs tailored to the region’s needs.
    “We are fully supportive of the proposed bill and we are ready to help fine tune whatever provision needs to be improved,” Odsey added.
    Interior and Local Government regional director Araceli San Jose said the “regional government will be better equipped with the passage of the autonomy bill as our economic sector will be heightened to its full potential.”
    She added the Regional Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (RTF-ELCAC) Cordillera passed resolution 2 series of 2021 in its meeting last March 17.
    The resolution urged the President to support the pursuit for Cordillera autonomy and to certify the autonomy bill as an urgent and priority agenda in his administration.
    The RTF-ELCAC members told the President Cordillera autonomy is an appropriate solution to communist armed conflict as it addresses economic and political issues of the region which are the root causes of the insurgency.
Education Cordillera director Estela Cariño said provisions of the proposed organic act stipulate the education sector will get the highest fund allocation.
    Cariño said that as of now, the region’s educational sector gets the least resources but Cordillera autonomy will allow the region’s education sector to come up with a curriculum that is appropriate for the region.
    Presidential Legislative Liaison Office Assistant Sec. Orville Ballitoc said their office will push the autonomy bill in all phases of legislation.
    “In fact, in the Senate, we are just waiting for the committee report to come out and it was committed by Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri that once the report is out, they will start tackling the measure in the counter-part committee in the senate,” he said.
    Once the committee report is out, the PLLO is committed to help request for a certification of urgency from the Office of the President to make the legislation of the proposed organic move faster.
    National Economic and Development Authority Cordillera director Stephanie Christiansen said the NEDA will provide  platform for consultations and discussions in advancing the bill. NEDA Cordillera, as technical arm of the Regional Development Council, had been advocating support for Cordillera autonomy through the SPCAR (social preparation for Cordillera autonomous region) project and with partners and local government units, national and local stakeholders have given manifestos and resolutions of their support to Cordillera autonomy.