BAGUIO CITY – The seven lawmakers from the different congressional districts in the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) formally signed the proposed autonomy bill that was prepared by the technical working group of the Regional (Development Council (RDC) for the establishment of an Autonomous Region in the Cordillera subject to some minor amendments introduced in some of the pertinent provisions of the proposed law.
Abra Rep. Joseph Sto. Nino Bernos, Apayao Rep. Eleanor Bulut-Begtang, Baguio City Rep. Mark Go, Benguet Rep. Ronald M. Cosalan, Ifugao Rep. Teodoro Baguilat, Jr., Kalinga Rep. Allen Jesse C. Mangaoang and Mountain Province Rep. Maximo Dalog, Sr. were able to affix their signatures to the proposed autonomy law, signalling their unity and teamwork for the enactment of the region’s third crack to become autonomous vis-à-vis the administration’s plan to shift to federal form of government in the future.
However, the seven lawmakers will be again having a meeting within the week to iron out the proposed minor amendments to some of the provisions of the autonomy bill before they will formally file the bill in the House of Representatives anytime.
One of the highlights of the proposed bill is that preamble of the present draft bill is an improved version of the Cordillera Regional Consultative Commission (CRCC) bill which was also adopted in House Bill (HB) 4649 filed in the previous Congress and only the words “aid” was changed to “will” in the new draft. Further, he added all the sections are already titled for easier understanding and reading as compared to the sections of HB 4649 and the terms used in the new bill were also checked for consistency.
Under the new draft, there are 19 articles and 184 sections with 146 sections or 79.35 percent retained or reworded from HB 4649; the article on revenues and fiscal matters was adopted in full, 18 sections or 9.79 percent were adopted or reworded and articles XI-XIII were based on the CRCC bill, 16 sections or 8.8 percent were adopted and reworded from the Bangsamoro Basic Law, 2 sections or 1.09 percent were adopted from the 1987 Constitution and 2 sections or 1.09 percent were new provisions introduced by the TWG.
Further, the name Autonomous Region of the Cordillera (ARC) was adopted to distinguish it from the current Cordillera CAR as an administrative region as suggested by the Office of Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III.
The TWG retained Section 3 of HB 4649 but with modification which specifically includes both indigenous peoples and non-indigenous peoples for distinction in establishing the identities of Cordillerans.
On the other hand, policies and principles were categorized into a declaration of policy and operative principles and indigenous peoples and indigenous cultural communities specified for emphasis instead of communities as suggested during the legal analysis workshop.
The new draft included the autonomy of local government units wherein the local governments that will comprise the ARC shall continue to be independent of each other and two staff were also included, specifically the Regional Ombudsman based on Presidential Decree (PD) 1630 and Regional Sandiganbayan based on PD 1606.
The TWG stated that the provision on the establishment of a council, commission or center for research and cultural heritage was amplified as reiterated during the public hearings and consultations regionwide.
The TWG also added the words regional flag to regional emblem and hymn to suit the interest of Cordillerans based on the results of the series of consultations and public hearings that solicited inputs of concerned sectors in enhancing the new draft. Among the references used by the TWG in crafting the new draft bill are inputs from the regionwide public consultations and hearings on HB 4649 led by the office of Cordillera Congress representatives, Round Table Discussion 2016, Legal Analysis Workshop 2016, Regional Stakeholders Conference 2016, meeting with the Office of Senator Pimentel, RDC full council meeting last November 2016, meeting with CAR officials, TWG review and meeting with autonomy advocates.
Earlier, Presidential Peace Adviser Jesus Dureza, during his visit to Tabuk City, Kalinga for the first quarter meeting of the RDC-CAR, called on Cordillerans to aspire for the prescribed establishment of the autonomous region because the quest for federalism will surely take sometime and that an autonomous region can exist within a federal state in the future.
By HENT
