Cordilleras want own Moro-type autonomy

From the Manila Standard Today (Sep 23): Cordilleras want own Moro-type autonomy

AS A RESULT of the national attention the creation of the Bangsamoro entity is getting,  Northern Luzon’s lawmakers are now pushing for the creation of the Cordilleras Autonomous Region after the previous Organic Acts failed ratification in 1990 and 1998.

“Cordillera autonomy will bring to the national attention as well the benefits of accepting and promoting cultural diversity through the formulation of multi-cultural policies for indigenous peoples and indigenous cultural communities,” the lawmakers said in a statement.

Two Organic Acts creating the CAR were enacted in 1990 and 1998, but both Organic Acts failed ratification mainly because of the people’s lack of awareness and understanding of the autonomy issues coupled with the misinformation drives undertaken by some sectors, the lawmakers said.

The lawmakers—Reps. Nicasio Aliping Jr. of Baguio City, Manuel Agyao of Kalinga, Teddy Brawner Baguilat Jr. of Ifugao, Eleanor Bulut-Begtang of Apayao, Maria Jocelyn Bernos of Abra, Ronald Cosalan of Benguet and Maximo Dalog of Mountain Province—jointly filed House Bill 4649 that seeks to create an autonomous region in the Cordilleras.

They filed HB 4649 on July 30 and the House plenary referred it to the House committee on local governments led by South Cotabato-General Santos City Rep. Pedro Acharon Jr.

The authors invoked Article X, Section 15 of the 1987 Constitution, the same provision that mandates the creation of autonomous regions in Muslim Mindanao and in the Cordilleras consisting of provinces, cities, municipalities and geographical areas sharing a common and distinctive historical and cultural heritage, economic and social structures, and other relevant characteristics within the framework of the Constitution, the national sovereignty, and the territorial integrity of the country.

The Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, in accord with the Constitution, was created under R.A. No. 6734 and was strengthened and expanded under R.A. No. 9054.

However, the authors said, the Cordillera Autonomous Region had yet to be realized.

Early last week, the House’s 75-member special ad hoc committee on the Bangsamoro Basic Law, chaired by Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez, approved its rules of procedure to guide its consideration of the Palace-proposed BBL as contained in HB 4994 and designed to replace the ARMM that President Benigno Aquino III has tagged as “a failed experiment.”

Isabela Rep. Rodolfo Albano III on Sunday warned that the BBL might prompt other regions, such as the Cordilleras, to also demand autonomy if some provisions, for instance, allowed the Bangsamoro to have its parliamentary system of government.

The CAR proponents recalled that on July 15, 1987, President Corazon Aquino issued Executive Order 220 creating the Cordillera Administrative Region with the mandate to administer the affairs of government in the region, accelerate the economic and social growth and development of the units of the region, and prepare for the establishment of the autonomous region in the Cordilleras.

Subsequently, the lawmakers said, two Organic Acts creating the CAR were enacted in 1990 and 1998 but both failed ratification mainly because of the people’s lack of awareness and understanding of the autonomy issues.

In 2006, the authors said, the Regional Development Council-Cordillera Administrative Region  or RDC-CAR decided to renew the pursuit of regional autonomy after it had determined that the only way to drastically address underdevelopment and poverty in the region was through regional autonomy.

“With policy and budgetary support from the national government, the RDC-CAR has since engaged in information, education and communication and capability-building activities towards regional autonomy at all levels in the region down to the grassroots,” the lawmakers said.

This campaign, they said, resulted in the draft Organic Act filed in the 15th Congress as HB 5595.

“Pulse surveys conducted thereafter revealed an increasing support to regional autonomy,” the lawmakers said.

The authors of HB 4649 stressed that Cordillera’s autonomy would be the most effective option to provide the region with the needed solid foundation to pursue sustainable development as the region hoped to benefit from the management and use of its natural resources.

http://manilastandardtoday.com/2014/09/23/cordilleras-want-own-moro-type-autonomy/