Cordillera autonomy consultations needed

EDITORIAL

The question now bugging Cordillera officials who are pushing for regional autonomy is the claim of concerned sectors and even other government officials, that there had not been enough consultations particularly in the grassroots level before House Bill 5595 which proposes provisions for a Cordillera Autonomous Region, was filed.

Critics claim that in a pluralist democracy, issues on governance and proposed laws (like Cordillera autonomy) should be discussed by the majority before these are filed for legislative approval. So in this case, they say, extensive consultation on regional autonomy should have been done before HB 5595 was filed.

But some protagonists, particularly members of the Regional Development Council are saying that since they were elected by the people, then it is a given that they represent the people’s sentiments like on autonomy.

Of course, this had not always been the case if the Ampatuans of Mindanao is any example. Some officials who crafted and pushed HB 5595 said autonomy grassroots consultations is the responsibility of everyone who understands the real essence of self-governance and that it should not be made an excuse to derail the passage of the enabling law in Congress.

The officials said House Bill 5595 authored by five Cordillera lawmakers approved in the committee level in the House of Representatives would serve as basis of grassroots consultations in the region by local officials and interest groups. Results of consultations, they said, could be incorporated as amendments to HB5595 and satisfy wishes of concerned sectors.

This could satiate somehow the gripes of other officials and concerned groups who said there were not enough consultations done in the region.

Earlier, the House committee on local governments approved HB 5595 (which creates the Cordillera Autonomous Region, if approved on final reading and ratified in a regional plebiscite) pursuant to the provision of the 1987 Constitution that mandates the creation of autonomous regions in the Cordillera and Muslim Mindanao.

Until now, there are other opinions, position papers and proposals on how Cordillera autonomy should be attained like that of the Cordillera People’s Alliance. Suffice to say that HB 5595 is only one among these.

It wouldn’t hurt if its proponents would start an extensive information drive on its provisions to generate feedback so these could be discussed more in a process all the way to Congress. This could involve the media, particularly newspapers wherein information is printed in black and white and could be objectively discussed.