ALFONSO LISTA, Ifugao – The Turismo Isulong Mo Party-list expressed support to the renewed quest for Cordillera autonomy pursuant to the pertinent provisions of the 1987 Constitution to help in maximizing the growth potentials of the region to be able to catch up with the development of other regions in the country.
Former San Juan, Abra Mayor Marco Bautista, who hails from the Cordillera and is the party-list group’s second nominee, assured barangay officials and residents of Ifugao he will pursue the filing of the autonomy bill in the 19th Congress once the said party-list group is able to get some seats in the May 9, 2022 synchronized national and local elections.
Aside from aggressively pursuing the party-list group’s advocacy on the promotion of tourism and the development of potential tourist destinations around the country to serve as one of the government’s major economic drivers, he stipulated that he will be closely working with duly elected lawmakers not only from the Cordillera but also from other legislative districts who are supportive of the region’s renewed quest for autonomy to ensure the passage of the desired autonomy bill that will realize the establishment of the Cordillera Autonomous Region (CAR).
The Turismo Isulong Mo Party-list second nominee pointed out that autonomy for the Cordillera is already long overdue that is why it is high time that the passage of the autonomy bill will be aggressively pursued not only by Cordillera lawmakers but also other congressmen who are supportive of the said endeavor.
According to him, autonomy will allow the regional government to enact laws, rules and regulations that are applicable in the existing situation of the region to pave the way for the implementation of high impact development projects and enhance the delivery of basic services considering that there are present policies of the national government that are not applicable to the current state of the region.
Bautista agreed with the contention of autonomy advocates that the establishment of CAR will greatly help in the crafting of programs, policies and activities that will move the people out from the shackles of poverty and jumpstart the overall growth and development in the region.
Under the 1987 Constitution, the Cordillera and Muslim Mindanao are the only regions that had been allowed to establish their autonomous regions subject to the passage of appropriate enabling laws that will be beneficial in the growth and development of the same.
Bautista rallied the support of Cordillera for the Turismo Isulong Mo Party-list so that it will be able to garner the sufficient number of votes in the upcoming May 9, 2022 national and local elections so that it will be able to fully support the long overdue clamor of Cordillerans for the establishment of the autonomous region which had been elusive over the past 3 decades.
The Turismo Isulong Mo Party-list is No. 156 in the list of party-list groups vying for the prescribed 63 available seats for the party-list system in the official ballot of the Commission on Election (COMELEC) for the upcoming May 9, 2022 synchronized national and local elections. The first nominee of the party-list group is former Tourism Secretary Wanda Tulfo-Teo.