BAGUIO CITY – Mayor Mauricio G. Domogan underscored that the Cordillera needs staunch autonomy advocates in the 18th Congress to be able to advance the proposed autonomy bill that will help in realizing the long overdue clamor of Cordillerans for the establishment of the desired autonomous region that will play a key role in charting the region’s growth and development.
The local chief executive admitted that Cordillerans will have to forget the passage of the pending autonomy bills in both chambers as the 17th Congress and that autonomy advocates will have to set their sights on the 18th Congress for the possible enactment of the autonomy bills into law.
“We really need people in Congress who are fully supportive of the region’s clamor for autonomy. We actually do not need people who are engaged in lip service because the establishment of the autonomous region has been enshrined in the Constitution which must be taken advantage by the people,” Domogan stressed.
House Bill (HB) 5343 that seeks to establish the Autonomous Region in the Cordillera (ARC) was authored by all Cordillera congressmen but it was only able to land in the House committee on local government with only a single conducted for the proposed autonomy bill amidst the overwhelming commitment of Mindanao lawmakers to support the enactment of the law to reciprocate the support given by the Cordilleran congressmen to the passage of the controversial Bangsamoro Basic Law.
Domogan, who also chairs both the Regional Development Council (RDC) and the Regional Peace and Order Council (RPOC), pointed out the need for the reconvening of the technical working group (TWG) to review the filed autonomy bills and to take a look at the BOL so that whatever will be the provisions in the BOL that could be applied in the Cordillera and are doable will be incorporated in the revised autonomy bill that will be filed by Cordillera congressmen who will be elected into office during the May 2019 mid-term elections when the 18th Congress will open in July.
According to him, it is ironical that some Cordillera lawmakers had been vocal in supporting the passage and enactment of the BOL but when it was the turn of the proposed autonomy in the Cordillera, they seem to be lukewarm on the matter which casts doubts on their sincerity to come out in public and make open commitments to support the passage of the autonomy bill which is not supported by real actions on their part.
Earlier, the Presidential Legislative Liaison Office (PLLO) committed to help the RDC-CAR secure the coveted certification from President Rodrigo Duterte making the proposed autonomy bill of the Cordillera as a priority administration measure to ensure its immediate passage in the 18th Congress considering that the BOL which was one of the administration’s priority legislative measure was already enacted and already being implemented.
Domogan called on the Cordillerans to sustain the gains of the ongoing autonomy advocacy so that it will be easier to advance the proposed autonomy bill in Congress once the members of the 18th Congress shall have been determined after the May 2019 mid-term elections.
By Dexter A. See
Banner illustration by Don Ray Ramos
