BAGUIO CITY – Mayor Mauricio G. Domogan underscored the greater benefits the Cordillera will enjoy in an autonomous region compared to being a federated region under the proposal of the Consultative Committee (ConCom) created by President Rodrigo R. Duterte to review the necessary amendments to the 1987 Constitution.
Under the federated region proposal of the ConCom, the proposed Cordillera federated region will be receiving some P50 billion funding assistance from the federal government to sustain its operations aside from the assistance it will receive from the equalization fund to be established as an aid for less developed federated regions which is still to be computed.
However, Domogan argued that under House Bill (HB) 5343 and Senate Bill (SB) 1789 or the pending bills that seek to establish an autonomous region in the Cordillera, local governments will continue to get their internal revenue allotment (IRA) which amount to over P14 billion annually, the regional line agencies will continue to be provided their operational budgets that amount to over P40 billion for this year, aside from the internally generated income of local governments that have a total of P10 billion, the projected share of the autonomous region from the taxes collected by the national government that account for P17 billion as well as the over P75 billion subsidy to be given by the national government to the autonomous region for a period of ten years.
He added that under the proposed federal charter, the status of employment of State workers distributed in the different line agencies is silent while under the proposed autonomy bills, it is clearly provided they will remain to be nationally paid and implementing programs, projects and activities relevant to the growth and development of the autonomous region.
More importantly, he explained whatever benefits of the federated regions granted by the federal government if the proposed shift to federal form of government will succeed will still be enjoyed by the autonomous region in the Cordillera specially the allocation of two senators for every federated region considering that the Organic Act will serve as appendix Ordinance No. 3 of the federal charter.
Even if the quest for Cordillera was not mentioned by President Duterte in his third State of the Nation Address (SONA), Domogan pointed out continuous lobbying is on-going on both bills calendared for deliberations by the relevant committees in both chambers of Congress considering that the more controversial Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) was already passed by the bicam.
He emphasized there is no compelling reason why the autonomy law of the Cordillera will be delayed because it has the same legal and constitutional basis as enshrined in Section 15, Article 10 of the 1987 Constitution which mandates the establishment of autonomous regions in the Cordillera and Muslim Mindanao.
The local chief executive asserted the shift to federal form of government has to still pass through the eye of the needle because of the conflict in both chambers on the mode of amending the Constitution while the autonomous law will only need the action of Congress on the pending bills that were filed over a year ago.
By Dexter A. See
