TABUK CITY, Kalinga – Cordillera lawmakers and autonomy advocates rallied President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. to include in his third State of the Nation Address (SONA) on July 22, 2024 his all-out support to the Cordillera region’s quest for autonomy to compel Congress to immediately pass pending legislations relative to the establishment of the autonomous region.
Rep. Allen Jesse C. Mangaoang said that it is high time that President Marcos will publicly declare his support to the region’s quest for autonomy and subsequently certify the pending legislations as urgent priority administration measures to convince lawmakers from both chambers to act on the pending bills for the establishment of the Cordillera Autonomous Region (CAR).
“We really need the President’s support in our struggle for the establishment of the autonomous region. We should join forces in lobbying with Congress and Malacañang to show to the President and our lawmakers that we are united in our clamor for self-determination and we mean it,” Congressman Mangaoang stressed.
Earlier, Cordillera lawmakers and members of the Regional Development Council (RDC) discussed the need to re-strategize the ongoing lobby for autonomy from the existing downstream lobby to upstream, particularly in Congress and Malacañang, to ensure the immediate passage of pending legislations for the establishment of the CAR.
He recognized the recent decision of the RDC-CAR to discuss the proposal to re-strategize the ongoing lobby and shift this to the upstream lobby so that the lawmakers in Congress and the President will be convinced on the region’s unified efforts to achieve autonomy.
At present, House Bill (HB) 3267 establishing the CAR is now pending with the House committee on appropriations after being passed upon by the House committees on local government and ways and means.
“We have to work double time if we want to achieve the much desired autonomous status of our region. We cannot let go of the enabling environment because we might be having a difficult time pushing for autonomy if we allow the present situation to simply pass without doing our best to lobby for it,” Mangaoang added.
The RDC-CAR had been previously embarking on the downstream lobby through the conduct of massive information and education campaigns in the grassroots level as part of the overall strategy to cascade to the people on the ground the importance of achieving autonomy which is for the betterment of Cordillerans.
The three-term Kalinga lawmaker pointed out that autonomy advocates and concerned sectors should not wait for July 15, 2024 to lobby before the President the issuance of the certification from Malacañang stating that the pending autonomy legislations in both chambers are urgent priority administration measures that must be immediately acted upon because they can do it anytime to be able to achieve the desired output the soonest.
On the other hand, the Cordillera Autonomy Advocates for Peace and Development, Inc. (CAAPDI), a non-government organization advocating for autonomy, is also doing its part in making parallel efforts to lobby before Congress and the Office of the President for concrete actions in support of the region’s quest for autonomy and the issuance of the necessary certification that the pending autonomy bills are urgent administration measures.
Mangaoang stated that lawmakers from different parts of the country have already expressed their support to the passage of HB 3267 once submitted to the plenary that is why constant lobbying is also being done with the House committee on appropriations to come out with its report at the earliest possible time.
Some senators who earlier visited the Cordillera signified their support to the region’s quest for autonomy but they are awaiting the version that will emanate from the House because it is a local bill, thus, the passage of HB 3267 in the House is necessary.
However, Mangaoang pointed out that the Senate could simultaneously do its public hearings and consultations in the pending counterpart bill authored by Senator Robinhood Padilla that seeks to establish the CAR and reconcile the same to the House version that will be passed upon by the lower House on time and resources considering that the quest for autonomy has long been overdue and now is the right time to achieve self-determination for the Cordillera.
The 1987 Constitution provides that there shall be established autonomous regions in Muslim Mindanao and the Cordillera.
Initially, some parts of Mindanao were able to achieve autonomy through the establishment of the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) which was eventually expanded and further enhanced through the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) that created the now interim Bangsamoro Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (BARMM). By Dexter A. See
