BAGUIO CITY – Representatives of various national government agencies submitted their respective proposals on how to enhance the pertinent provisions of House Bill (HB) 4649 or the bill that will establish the Cordillera Autonomous Region that will be refilled by the next set of lawmakers from the region by the next Congress.
During the roundtable discussion on autonomy which was attended by some 50 representatives from the national offices of government agencies held at the University of the Philippines (UP) Balay Calinao Thursday, all of the agency representatives expressed their all-out support to the renewed quest for regional autonomy spearheaded by the Regional Development Council (RDC) in the Cordillera but there is a need to introduce some changes in the provisions of the pending bill in order to ensure that there will be devolution of enough power and resources and agencies are mandated to enforce such devolved functions in the regional government and the local government units.
National Commission on Culture and the Arts (NCCA) Chairman Felipe de Leon cited there is a need to explicitly insert a provision in the autonomy bill that will guarantee the implementation of necessary programs and projects that will resort to the preservation and protection of the rich culture and heritage of Cordillerans for it to be passed on to the coming generations so that the same will not be lost.
For her part, Budget Undersecretary Janet Abuel said that her agency is willing to play an important role in the crafting of several provisions of the autonomy bill for the sharing of the meagre resources of the national government similar to what they have done with the controversial Bangsamoro Basic Law to allow the proposed autonomy bill to hurdle powerful committees of the House and Senate.
Abuel added there is a need to refine the wordings of the proposed autonomy bill so that it will not appear as an appropriation measure in order to contain the necessary provisions that will put in place the autonomous regional government in the Cordillera.
Ambassador Alexander La Madrid cited that while foreign service is one of the functions that cannot be devolved, the foreign affairs department supports the rend quest for autonomy as enshrined in the Constitution and that the agency had been actively in the promotion of various |Cordillera handicrafts and products in international exhibitions and expositions that included the region as one of the ecotourism destinations among foreign visitors, especially Europeans.
For the Komisyon ng Wikang Ipilipino, Director Robert Añunuevo cited there is a need to place a provision in the proposed Organic Act that mandates the widespread promotion of wikang Filipino and the other native dialects plus the fact that the said agency under the Office of the President is willing to translate the proposed bill into Filipino for a better understanding of its contents by the indigenous peoples in the countryside.
Dionisio Pangilinan of the National Museum said that the Cordillera has been one of the areas where their offices and projects had been based in the past, thus, the proposed autonomy law will help in the overall efforts of government to preserve and protect the culture and heritage of the Cordillerans which had been passed on to several generations now.
Chat Rasay of the National Housing Authority (NHA) cited the need for the inclusion of the appropriate provisions in the proposed autonomy law so that potential resettlement sites will be converted as such in order for the region to quality for the implementation of housing projects considering that most parts of the region are located within forest reservations.
Forester Rey Thomas Cabigting of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources – Forest Management Bureau (DENR-FMB) welcomed the region’s quest for autonomy considering that it will be of great help to the agency in efforts to preserve and protect the environment but there should be no turning back once autonomy will be granted by the national government.
Because of the good performance of the Cordillera in the implementation of the National Greening Program (NGP) over the past several years, Cabigting expressed confidence that the region is now ready to manage the natural resources within its midst unlike what has been happening to the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mndanao (ARMM).
Rozano Rufino of the Department of Education Indigenous Peoples Education division, said the Cordillera had been leading the way in culture-based education and the proposed autonomy will simply concretize tie inclusion of the same in formal and non-formal instructions.
Further, he added the concept on indigenous peoples and culture-based education had been developed in the region, thus, the Cordillera is considered to be ready for autonomy.
Rosalie Buscar of the Commission on Higher Education’s Office for Students Affairs and Services, said the performance of the agency’s regional office in the Cordillera had been outstanding compared to the performance of their office in the ARMM, thus, the readiness of the region for autonomy is evident because their officials and employees have shown that they can effectively and efficiently implement programs and projects for the welfare of students with lesser restraint from the central office.
Milagros Rimando, regional director of the Cordillera office of the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) and RDC-CAR vice chairperson, expressed her gratitude to all those who actively participated in the aforesaid activity that elicited bright ideas which will be up for inclusion in the provisions of the proposed autonomy bill that will be ready for refilling by the next set of cordillera lawmakers in the next Congress.
By Dexter A. See
