BAGUIO CITY – The passage and eventual enactment into law the long overdue Cordillera autonomy bill will be one of the major priorities of concerned lawmakers in the region for the realization of the constitutional provision establishing an autonomous region in the Cordillera, lawyer Mauricio G. Domogan said here recently.
Domogan, who is seeking the city’s lone congressional seat in the upcoming May 12, 2025 mid-term elections, said that the establishment of the long overdue autonomous region in the Cordillera will be the legacy of the future batch of lawmakers to the youth of the region because they will be the ones to reap the fruits of self-governance.
He pointed out that it is important for Cordillera lawmakers to be aggressive in pushing for the establishment of the autonomous region because it has been enshrined in the pertinent provisions of the 1987 Philippine Constitution which must be realized through the passage of the necessary enabling law by Congress and subsequently signed by the President.
Domogan, who had been the city’s 6-term mayor and 3-term congressman, emphasized the need for lawmakers to take advantage of the enabling environment where President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. is a staunch supporter of self-determination to push for the establishment of the autonomous region.
Autonomy advocates emphasized that self-governance will definitely contribute in the overall efforts of the government to move the people out from the shackles of poverty because it will be the regional government that will craft the necessary programs and policies that will be applicable to the present state of the region unlike in the current situation where all policies emanate from the central government even if the same are not suitable to the prevailing situation in the highly elevated areas.
He commended the present batch of lawmakers for their persistence in pushing for the passage of the Cordillera autonomy which they all authored but there is still a need to work out the necessary provisions that must be included in the measure to ensure the upliftment of the autonomous regional government once it will be created.
House Bill (HB) 3267 that seeks to establish the Cordillera Autonomous Region (CAR) was authored by all Cordillera congressmen is now pending before the House committee on appropriations after being passed upon by the House committees on ways and means and local government.
In the Senate, its counterpart bill is also pending with the Senate committee on local government awaiting the conduct of committee hearings for its eventual passage.
Domogan asserted that there is a need to look into the current provisions of the autonomy bill and other measures that were filed in the past and consolidate the applicable provisions to the present situation in the region to have a stronger bill that will uphold the rights of the Cordillerans to self-governance.
Domogan was the chair of the technical working group of the Regional Development Council (RDC) in the Cordillera that crafted one of the autonomy bills that were filed in Congress and was then approved on third and final reading but it was not provided a counterpart measure in the Senate. By Dexter A. See
Cordi Autonomy does not work in the far flung parts of the region. Its true that we will give that issue to the young generation for the new ideas that makes our region progressive.
6-Term Mayor and 3-Term Congressman, the highly respected Mr. Domogan should leave the issue of Cordi Autonomy to the young and upcoming politicians of this mountainous region. Their ‘fresh’ ideas might be of help for a more fruitful dialogue and positive results compared to ‘the same old stuff’. The issue of Cordi Autonomy measure was brought up in the past numerous times, but passage was unsuccessful, therefore, new ideas from new politicians might help.