Lower House committee sets Cordi autonomy consultations

By Marlo Lubguban

BAGUIO CITY – The House of Representatives’ committee on local government chaired by Tarlac 3rd District Rep. Noel Villanueva has started deliberations on the proposed law establishing the Autonomous Region of the Cordillera under House Bill 5687 filed by all Cordillera congressmen and House Bill 7778 filed by Benguet Caretaker Congressman Eric Yap.
    Rep. Villanueva committed the full support of the 18th Congress House of Representatives committee on local government in conducting regional consultations and finally getting a bill passed into law establishing the Autonomous Region of the Cordillera.
    “We have so much work to do but we have one objective in mind, in this 18th Congress, we will pass the enacting law for the Autonomous Region of the Cordillera,” he said.
    Mountain Province Rep. Maximo Dalog Jr. said the current attempt at Cordillera autonomy is more acceptable to the people of the region as it is a product of intensive public consultation among stakeholders from community leaders, government agencies, and civil society organizations.
    Dalog said Cordillera autonomy will bring the region to national attention with the promotion of multi-cultural and economic policies including sustainable development through management of natural resources based on indigenous knowledge of the region’s unique environment.
    Alluding to the region’s history, Rep. Jesse Allen Mangaoang of Kalinga said “Cordillerans once divided on autonomy are now united in the quest for self-determination.”
    The provinces and chartered city that comprise the Cordillera region today were once divided between Regions 1 and 2 from 1972 to 1987 during a period of rapid change and development in the country.
    Failure of the past attempts at regional autonomy were attributed to poor information dissemination and a lack of readiness and unity among the provinces. Mangaoang said.
     “We are more than ready, our effective response to the Covid-19 pandemic using our traditions, culture of sharing, ingenuity and resilience showed our readiness for self-governance. The Cordillera region has become one of the best performing regions in the fight against Covid-19 this demonstrates an unquestionable capacity for self-determination.”
    Baguio City Rep. Mark Go said times have changed since the failed attempts in 1990 and 1998.
    He said information on Cordillera autonomy had been a continuing discussion.
    He added engagement with the public on this issue has been consistent in the decades since and up to the present.     Technology has afforded the Cordillera region, with its historically remote and isolated villages, a better opportunity to disseminate information among its stakeholders, he said.
    Cordillera Regional Development Council Vice Chair and National Economic Development Authority Cordillera Regional Director Milagros Rimando said unlike in the past, there had been convergence of stakeholders that expressed their support for Cordillera autonomy. Statements of support were received from Cordillera local government units, indigenous peoples’ mandatory representatives, and private sector. Support also came from various national agencies and Cabinet secretaries who recognized the Constitutional mandate of Cordillera autonomy and its necessity to address various development and security concerns in the region.
    Rimando said Cordillera autonomy must be granted in accordance to the 1987 Constitution as well as the Sipat peace agreement of 1986 between the Philippine Government and the Cordillera Tribal leaders.
    She added the Cordillera Regional Development Plan has always focused on the attainment of Cordillera autonomy primarily to address inappropriate national policies and program standards imposed in the geographically-unique and culturally diverse region.
    “We need to grab this opportunity now, the time is very, very right”, said CLG chairperson Villanueva. “We cannot approve this very important piece of legislation in a single sitting.”
    The committee, through Rep. Villanueva, created a technical working group composed of Cordillera congressmen led by Reps. Go and Dalog and the regional directors of the Cordillera regional line Agencies, to ensure the constitutionality of the filed bills and ensure no laws conflict with it.