Cordillera solons back BBL for own autonomy bid

BAGUIO CITY, Philippines—-Lawmakers from Cordillera are supporting the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL), hopeful that their own bid for a third autonomy law creating a Cordillera Autonomous Region also gets support, Ifugao Representative Teodoro Baguilat Jr. said during a forum here.

“After the BBL, we can go to the deliberation of the proposed Cordillera Autonomy Act,” he said.

Although the Cordillera lawmakers filed House Bill No. 4649 (the Cordillera autonomy measure) in October last year, much earlier than the BBL, they had agreed their initiative should take a backseat to the BBL, he said.

Strategically, he said, discussing and approving the BBL first before the Cordillera measure would benefit their bill. “Whatever is the outcome, this could serve as a template for us,” he added.

Baguilat and Cordillera lawmakers Nicasio Aliping of Baguio, Manuel Agyao of Kalinga, Maximo Dalog of Mt. Province, Eleanor Bulut-Begtang of Apayao, Ronald Cosalan of Benguet, and Maria Jocelyn Valera-Bernos of Abra sponsored HB 4649.

“Suffice it to say that the BBL and CAR drafts have differences. The BBL was written well, with facets of governance not reflected on our own,” Baguilat said.

Instead of a regional government with a regional governor at the helm, Cordillera may try the parliamentary form suggested by the BBL, he said.

On the P10-billion jump-start fund that the Cordillera autonomy initiative requires from Congress, Baguilat said it was far smaller than the P37 billion sought for the BBL.

“If in case our subsidies are questioned in the plenary, we can always point to the BBL,” he said.

HB 4649 would get the backing of the Mindanao congressmen should the BBL pass into law, under a “give and take” arrangement, he said, adding that Cordillerans share some affinity with the Mindanao indigenous peoples. Frank Cimatu, Inquirer Northern Luzon