BATASAN, Quezon City – Cordillerans were elated over the snowballing support that the renewed quest for autonomy is getting from national and Muslim leaders who share their sentiments on the need to achieve the autonomous status for the region before it will be overtaken by events.
Mayor Mauricio G. Domogan, who chairs the Regional Development Council (RDC) and the Regional Peace and Order Council (RPOC) in the Cordillera, said the recent action of the House of Representatives in approving a resolution that will convene both chambers of Congress into a constituent assembly to tackle the planned shift to federal form of government has all the more made the region’s quest for autonomy urgent.
Speaking before the 1st Congressional Forum on Autonomy spearheaded by the RDC-CAR in partnership with the Cotabato-based Institute of Autonomy and Governance (IAG) here Wednesday, Domogan pointed out there is a need for autonomy advocates to work double time to realize the constitutional mandate for the establishment of an Autonomous Region in the Cordillera (ARC) before it will be too late in the day considering efforts to change the 1987 Constitution that specifically provides the creation of autonomous regions in the Cordillera and Muslim Mindanao.
“If the time will come that my children will ask me what had I done to make autonomy work in the region, I will be proud to tell them that I had done my best to advocate for autonomy for our region to move on to greater heights,” Domogan stressed.
Kalinga Rep. and Mountain Province caretaker congressman Allen Jesse C. Mangaoang said the commitment of Muslim lawmakers led by Deputy Speaker and Maguindanao 1st District Rep. Bai Sandra A. Sema to support the passage of the Cordillera autonomy bill and the assurance of Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri to file the counterpart bill of the autonomy law in the Senate is a sign that there will be a hance for the proposed autonomy bill will be enacted and signed into law by President Rodrigo Duterte.
Mangaoang said that the commitment of Presidential Peace Adviser Jesus G. Dureza to follow-up with the President the certification that the Cordillera autonomy bill is an urgent administration measure and his plan to talk to South Cotabato 1st District Rep. Pedro Acharon, Jr., chairman of the House committee on local government, to calendar House Bill (HB) 5343 or the bill that seeks to establish an Autonomous Region in the Cordillera are plus factors to the efforts of the Cordillerans to have the bill passed during the present administration and for autonomy to be realized the soonest.
Baguio City Rep. Mark Go pointed out the most important thing for Cordillerans to do is to have the autonomy law ratified by the people in the six provinces and two cities after it will be enacted into law so that the Cordillera will stay as an autonomous region and it will not be again divided based on the results of the plebiscite.
Mountain Province Gov. Bonifacio Lacwasan, Jr. underscored that it is important for Cordillerans to continue showing their supports on the region’s renewed quest for autonomy to convince national officials to prioritize the enactment of the law that will grant the long overdue clamor for self-governance.
“We need to sustain the momentum that we were able to gain from our previous engagements that is why we must not buckle down on the matter even at the height of potential threats that seem to affect the on-going efforts of the region towards autonomy,” Lacwasan stressed.
Lacwasan claimed the provincial government is sustaining its efforts to inform and educate the people of Mountain Province on the importance of achieving autonomous status for the region so that the Cordillera will have better bargaining position once the federal form of government will be put in place, thus, the region could lobby for its existence as an autonomous region within a federal state.
Ifugao Gov. Pedro Mayam-o stated that the support that the region is getting from the various national leaders only shows the importance of the issue in the national scale although the region is simply a special temporary administrative region.
He added that Ifugaos are eagerly awaiting for the enactment of the autonomy law and submitted to the people for ratification because the people of Ifugao understand the real essence of autonomy to the overall state of development of the region.
La Trinidad Mayor Romeo Salda said that the messages delivered by Muslim leaders and other national officials will definitely serve as a motivation for Cordillerans to understand the advantages of autonomy to the region in the future, thus, the need for the RDC-CAR to sustain the gains of the on-going information and education campaign to let most people have a better view of autonomy.
By HENT
