MORE NEWS, BAGUIO CITY

Transfer of gov’t functions to regional offices sought to boost autonomy drive
By Dexter A. See

BAGUIO CITY — The transfer of some functions of different national government agencies to their regional offices in the Cordillera could boost renewed pursuit for regional autonomy.

This was the contention of Juan Ngalob, regional director of the National Economic Development Authority in the Cordillera and interim chairman of the Regional Development Council.

He said the decentralization of the functions of national government agencies is one way to show to the people how genuine autonomy works to the advantage of the region.

Ngalob said cooperation of national government agencies in the efforts to implement this strategy is an important move that could convince Cordillerans that self-governance is far better than the present setup in which the region has to struggle to secure the approval by the central office of even simple matters.

The RDC has formulated a three-point work plan to revitalize the renewed pursuit for Cordillera autonomy after a survey showed that 66 percent of the people in the region are not fully aware of the constitutional provision on the establishment of an autonomous region in the Cordillera.

The plan calls for information and education campaign, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of projects before the conduct of a tracking survey in 2010. This would determine the pulse of the people on the sensitive autonomy issue.

Ngalob said that Cordillerans are wise in making decisions, and so it is important for top government management to transfer some functions to the regional offices in the Cordillera.

This would serve as an example on how genuine autonomy works to the advantage of the region in terms of efficient, effective, and timely actions on pressing matters.

Meanwhile, Ben Tumamao, regional director of the Department of Education in the Cordillera, reported that Education Secretary Jesli Lapus is supportive of transferring some of the functions of the central office relative to administrative and operational procedures in the agency.

This would make the teachers, who were strong advocates against autonomy in the past, experience how autonomy operates.

This could erase the perception that the region’s autonomy model is that of the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) where thousands of teachers could not avail themselves of loans from the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS). This was reportedly due to the failure of the regional government to remit the payment for their premiums.