More than sixty representatives of civil society organizations (CSOs) from the different parts of the Cordillera will be mounting an aggressive signature campaign to compliment ongoing efforts that will support the region’s quest for autonomy.
The decision of the CSO representatives to mount the signature campaign in support to autonomy was a result of a two-day Autonomy Advocates Speakers Training of the Cordillera Alliance for Autonomy, Peace and Development, Inc. (CAAPDI) which was supported by the Regional Development Council (RDC) and the Cordillera office of the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA-CAR).
The aforesaid training was aimed to orient the participants on the updated version of the autonomy presentation materials and demonstrate how to use the same; familiarize the participants on messaging and visuals for social marketing and find ways and means to strengthen multi-sectoral coordination and cooperation.
The signatures that will be gathered by the CSOs will compliment the earlier signatures supporting the region’s quest for autonomy which was gathered by the RDC in previous gatherings that were conducted for the purpose of electing the support of the people and officials for the immediate passage of the pending autonomy laws in the House and the Senate.
House Bill (HB) 3267 authored by all Cordillera congressmen and Senate Bill 2275 authored by Senator Robinhood Padilla seeks to establish the Cordillera Autonomous Region (CAR) pursuant to the provisions of the 1987 Constitution mandating the establishment of autonomous regions in Muslim Mindanao and the Cordillera.
The CSO representatives assured their support to the agreed signature campaign for autonomy as the contribution of the private sector in an consolidated effort to show to the present administration had the lawmakers of the snowballing clamor of Cordillerans to achieve self-governance to be able to speed up the development of the region by establishing their regional identity, spur economic growth and achieve development for all resulting to better quality of life for the people in the future.
Autonomy advocates time and again underscored that achieving self-governance through the law that will be enacted by Congress and signed by the President will help speed up the growth and development of the region that will also help in moving people out from the shackles of poverty because of lesser restraint from outside forces.
The CAAPDI is composed of volunteer members from various CSOs from the different parts of the region that is supportive of the region’s quest for autonomy which will be their legacy for the youth who will be the ones to lead the region in the future.
HB 3267 was initially approved by the House committees on local government and ways and means but is now pending deliberations in the House committee on appropriations with specific focus on the financial viability of the region and the support that will be extended by the national government to the regional government once created while SB 2275 is pending with the Senate committee on local government awaiting the decision of the lower chamber on the House version of the proposed autonomy law.
