BAGUIO CITY – Presidential Peace Adviser Jesus Dureza urged leaders of the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) to have a common stand on the region’s renewed quest for autonomy or the shift to a federal form of government before President Rodrigo R. Duterte will make an official stand on what the Cordillerans really want for their region.
Dureza recently met with several Cordillera officials through the Regional Development Council (RDC) in the Cordillera to discuss the possibility of soliciting the President’s support to the region’s renewed pursuit for regional autonomy and the government’s plan for a shift to the federal form of government.
“Cordillera leaders need to come out with a unified stand on what they really want because it seems that there is still a division on the direction that they want to take. It will be difficult to convince the President once he will know that the leaders are not united for the cause that they want to pursue in his administration,” Secretary Dureza stressed.
The Palace official noted some of the leaders favor the renewed pursuit for regional autonomy while a few of them are advocating for federalism so they must go back to the drawing board to discuss the best option possible for the Cordillera before bringing back the matter for the action of the President.
Dureza explained the President has no problem if Cordillera officials will decide to pursue regional autonomy as enshrined in the Constitution and be part of a federal state in the future as an autonomous region or avail of the shift to a federal form of government invoking the existence of an autonomous region within the federal state.
According to him, it will be easier to convince the President to certify the autonomy bill as an urgent administration measure once the leaders will be singing the same tune reminding the Cordillera leaders present during the meeting to be mindful of the overall interest of the people instead of political survival.
The RDC-CAR end banc earlier unanimously approved the new draft of the proposed bill proposing for the establishment of an Autonomous Region in the Cordillera which will be transmitted to the different congressman for filing at the House of Representatives.
Dureza pointed out the President had always been supportive of the pursuit for autonomy in the Cordillera like the support that the administration is pouring to the enactment of the new Bangsamoro law, thus, the Cordillerans can have their autonomy bill be deliberated by Congress side by side with the deliberation of the Bangsamoro law.
He disclosed the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process will support whatever options the Cordillera leaders will take because both options are in consonance with the administration’s bid for decentralization of the powers of the government to the proposed federal states.
Dureza expressed confidence that the Cordillera leaders will come back to him with a unified stand on the renewed pursuit for regional autonomy or await the approval of the shift to the federal form of government.