Cordillera congressmen set autonomy approval in June

BAGUIO CITY -- Cordillera Congress representatives are rushing passage of House Bill 3267 that seeks establishment of  Cordillera Autonomous Region in the House of Representatives before adjournment of Congress the first week of June this year.
    Kalinga congressmen Allen Jesse Mangaoang of Kalinga, aximo Dalog Jr. of Mountain Province and Mark Go of Baguio City, who headed a public consultation on the autonomy bill, said the bill was being calendared for plenary debates once Congress resumes its first regular session second week of May for the same to be approved on second and third readings before adjournment.
    Mangaoang said they wanted the autonomy bill will first be passed by the House so that there will be a compelling reason for them to request a meeting with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. for him to certify the bill a priority administration measure.
    A meeting with the President will be scheduled before he delivers his second State of the Nation Address before a joint session of Congress by 4th week of July so he will include the same in his address.
    Go said the approved House version of the autonomy bill will be submitted to Sen. Robinhood Padilla, who will author the Senate version and facilitate immediate passage of the bill.
    At present, no counterpart bill on the proposed autonomy law has been filed in the Senate.
    Mangaoang said former and incumbent Cordillera leaders who will be meeting with the President will present to him signatures from the region to support their request for certification of the autonomy bill as a priority administration measure.
    Cordillera congressmen expressed gratitude to representatives of local governments, government agencies, private sector, professional and civil society organizations for their inputs on improving provisions of the autonomy bill before it will be subjected to amendments after plenary debates in the House.
    The public consultation held in Baguio was part of initiatives of Cordillera congressional representatives to engage people of the region to provide their inputs on improving provisions of the autonomy bill so it will address development goals of the region when its current special administrative status will be converted from being administrative to autonomous.

Dalog said the establishment of the autonomous region will solve development woes of the Cordillera because it will be the regional government that will craft programs, policies and activities suitable to the current situation of the region, contrary to the current setup where the region is bound to comply with policies  handed down by the national government.

In Baguio, officials recently urged Rep. Go to conduct public consultations in the city on the latest version of the proposed autonomy law pending in Congress and the proposed amendments to the revised Charter of Baguio City if any.

Under Resolution 204, series of 2023, the city council stated during consultations held last Feb. 28 at Baguio Convention Center, participants said the revised Charter of Baguio city could have included merging of the city’s 128 barangays to comply with the standard requirement for a barangay as defined under the pertinent provisions of Republic Act 7160 or the Local government Code of the Philippines.

The council said the city’s representative to the House is actively doing important legislations such as the proposed autonomy law and constitutional amendments, and the revised Charter of Baguio City under RA 11689 and the Metropolitan Baguio-La Trinidad-Itogon-Sablan-Tuba-Tublay (BLISST) development Authority under RA 11932 which may soon become laws.