LA TRINIDAD, Benguet – The provincial board passed a resolution supporting the quest for autonomy and requested Rep. Eric Yap to refile the consolidated autonomy bill in the 19th Congress at the earliest possible time.
Indigenous Peoples Mandatory Representative (IPMR) and board member Recto Alaoas moved for the passage of the resolution during the provincial board’s regular session last Monday which was unanimously approved.
The board underscored the importance of the consolidated autonomy bill being filed at the earliest possible time so that the concerned committee in the House of Representatives can immediately deliberate on the matter for its early passage to avoid similar delays that might cause its non-passage in the present Congress.
In the 18th Congress, Yap authored House Bill (HB) 7778 which seeks to establish the Cordillera Autonomous Region which was then consolidated by the House committee on local government with HB 5687 authored by all Cordillera representatives which had a similar purpose.
On May 30, 2022 the House passed on third reading HB 10729 which was the consolidated version of HBs 5687 and 7778 which was then transmitted to the Senate on May 31, 2022.
However, the autonomy bill was not acted upon by the Senate because the session of both chambers adjourned on June 1, 2022 that signaled the close of the 18th Congress.
Earlier, Cordillera lawmakers vowed to refile the consolidated autonomy bill in the 19th Congress to ensure its passage the earliest possible time so that the Senate will have ample time to pass its counterpart bill before being transmitted to President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. for it to be signed into law.
Vice Governor Ericson ‘Tagel’ Felipe claimed that the provisions of the consolidated autonomy bill were extensively deliberated upon by the previous members of the House committee on local government so there will be no reason for the bill not to be passed in the present Congress when most of the members have been re-elected.
Aside from facilitating the passage of the autonomy bill in the House, Felipe suggested that autonomy advocates must also lobby the senators to ensure the passage of the bill in the upper chamber so that the long overdue clamor for self-determination will be realized.
Benguet is the first local government in the Cordillera that came out with the resolution supporting the region’s quest for autonomy after the assumption of the new set of local officials for the present term which hopefully will encourage other provinces, cities and municipalities to come out with similar resolutions to show their all-out support for self-governance.
Felipe expressed hope that the adopted timetable for the enactment of the autonomy law will be strictly followed by the concerned stakeholders so that the necessary information and education campaign can be aggressively pursued in time for the plebiscite for the ratification of the autonomy bill once passed into law.