TABUK CITY, Kalinga – Rep. Allen Jesse C. Mangaoang rallied barangay, municipal and provincial officials and autonomy advocates to start gathering signatures to support the Cordillera’s quest for autonomy during the celebration of indigenous peoples (IP) month this October which will be the basis in requesting President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. to certify the pending autonomy bill in Congress as a priority administration measure.
Mangaoang, who chairs the House committee on cultural minorities and IPs, pointed out that Cordillerans must take advantage of the rare opportunity that the sitting President is from the north and understands the situation of the Cordillera to convince him to certify the pending autonomy bill as part of the priority legislative agenda of the present administration.
He claimed that the best way for Cordillerans to convince President Marcos, Jr. to issue the coveted certification is the submission of petitions from the communities requesting the Chief Executive to make known to Congress this is a priority legislative measure so that it will be immediately acted upon by legislators from both chambers of Congress.
The lawmaker urged concerned stakeholders to maximize the whole month to gather signatures to the petition for presentation to the President during a meeting that will be scheduled by Cordillera leaders with him to discuss the priority development projects of the region that includes the long overdue clamor for self-governance.
Earlier, all Cordillera Congress representatives refiled in the House of Representatives a bill that seeks to establish the Cordillera Autonomous Region (CAR) which contains similar provisions with the same bill that was approved on third and final reading by the House on May 30, 2022 during the last session day of the 18th Congress.
According to him, the signed petitions supporting the region’s quest for autonomy will bolster the united position of the cordillera lawmakers in requesting the President for the issuance of the needed certification that the same is an urgent administration measure that will serve as a basis for both chambers of Congress to immediately act on the pending bill that will pave the way for the realization of the constitutional provision mandating the establishment of autonomous regions in Muslim Mindanao and the Cordillera.
Mangaoang emphasized that the conversion of the present special temporary administrative region to an autonomous region will pave the way for robust regional development because it will be the autonomous regional government that will administer the affairs of the Cordillera unlike in the present set up where the programs, policies and projects come from the central government.
The 3-term congressman asserted that the unity of the Cordilleras in the clamor for self-rule is one of the aligned strategies to be able to convince the Chief Executive and lawmakers to fully support the quest for autonomy.
He recommended that in the planned meeting with the President, former and present officials and autonomy advocates should be present to show him now is the time for the region to achieve the long overdue cause to give justice to the supreme sacrifices made by those who risked their lives to gain the government’s recognition on the clamor for self-governance.