OSG favors IPMR to sit as city council member

BAGUIO CITY – The militant Cordillera People’s Alliance welcomed the Office of the Solicitor General’s answer to a petition filed by the City Government of Baguio to prevent the city’s indigenous people’s mandatory representative (IPMR) from assuming his post as member of the city council.

The CPA said the city government’s position not to include an IPMR in the city council was “self-serving, gratuitous and unwarranted conclusions of law.”

“The OSG’s response to the city petition was a major stride in the people’s assertion of the right to political representation of indigenous peoples  in Baguio, the CPS and Tongtongan ti Umili said in a joint statement. “It also shows the invalidity of the points raised by the officialdom of Baguio, going as far as saying that marginalization does not exist among IPs in the city.”

The groups said, “The city government of Baguio led by Mayor Mauricio Domogan had this issue drag on for too long. It is long overdue that the indigenous peoples are given a voice in the local government especially since they comprise a significant section if not the majority of the city’s population. May the OSG’s response to the city government’s petition serve as a challenge and testament that the voice of the people will prevail.”

They urged pertinent government offices to let IMPR representative Roger D. Sinot assume as member of the city council.