Gov’t earmarks P15 million for info drive on Cordi autonomy

By Dexter A. See

BAGUIO CITY – The national government is pushing autonomy for the region to comply with constitutional provision mandating the creation of autonomous regions in the Cordillera and Muslim Mindanao.

The Office of the President included in the P1.5 trillion national budget this year P15 million to fund activities lined up by the Regional Development Council in the Cordillera for pursuit for self-governance through autonomy.

Liza Fangsilat, regional director of the Department of Budget and Management in the Cordillera, said the release of the amount to the region will be made once President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo signs the approved national budget this year into law.

With this, activities for different sectors regarding information and education campaign will continue even through the campaign period for the May 2010 synchronized and automated elections.

Earlier, the RDC proposed inclusion in this year’s budget the amount of P48 million to boost the expansion of the machineries and establish grassroots level linkages to strengthen the information and education campaign on the renewed pursuit for regional development and autonomy after the P15 million proposed in the 2009 national budget was lost in the Senate.

Juan Ngalob, regional director of the National Economic Development Authority and RDC acting chairman, said a tracking survey will be conducted by the region’s policy-making body in order to determine the inclination of voters on the quest for the establishment of an autonomous region.
This. so that they will be guided by results in the formulation of more strategies to make sure Cordillerans fully understand advantages and disadvantages of achieving self-governance before crafting a third Organic Act.

In 2208, results of a sampling survey conducted to determine the inclination of Cordillerans on the renewed pursuit for regional autonomy showed 66 percent of the people were not aware on the constitutional provision mandating the creation of an autonomous region in the Cordillera.

Out of the 3`4 percent who claimed they are aware of the provision of the 1987 Constitution on the establishment of an autonomous region in the Cordillera, 20 percent said they will vote for autonomy when an Organic Act will be submitted to the people for ratification while 14 percent of the surveyed individuals will not vote for the third Organic Act.

In her 2006 State of the Nation Address, President Arroyo assured her support to the quest of the region for self-governance, thus, the RDC crafted a three-point work plan that will focus on information and education campaign among all sectors.