Rethink autonomy bid, Cordillera execs told

UNITY Gongs ring out in upland communities to gather villagers for feasts or political discussions. The Cordillera provinces, including Baguio City, have been batting for autonomy to attain regional development and security. —EV ESPIRITU

BAGUIO CITY—GOVERNMENT officials pushing for Cordillera autonomy must make sure this drive remains relevant three decades after the creation of the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), Agriculture Secretary William Dar said here on Friday.

The 1987 Constitution mandates the creation of autonomous regions in Muslim Mindanao and Cordillera.

‘Stuck in transition’

But Dar said the Cordillera remained “stuck in transition,” having been overtaken by the 1989 creation of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, and its replacement in January this year, the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

“But if it is still a relevant solution to regional development and security, then do something,” Dar told officials during the Cordillera Regional Development Council (RDC) meeting.

He added: “Regional autonomy must be an aspiration of the people, not some program from the government with benefits to be given to them.”

In 1987, then President Corazon Aquino issued Executive Order No. 220 to create the CAR, after forging peace with former rebel priest, Conrado Balweg.

Twice rejected

The CAR was designed to prepare the provinces of Benguet, Mountain Province, Ifugao, Apayao, Abra and Kalinga, and Baguio City, for autonomy.

But two organic acts creating the Cordillera autonomous region were rejected in 1989 and 1990. A third attempt to create another autonomy law for Cordillera has languished in Congress for many years.

“EO 220 was an agreeable response by the government and the nation to the clamor for autonomy in the Cordillera,” Dar said. But he said “the 32 years of this struggle were rather too long and costly.”

“The Cordillera still [grapples] with underdevelopment, poverty, inaccessibility, the devastation of its natural resource base and insurgency,” Dar said, adding that this was the reason indigenous communities had clamored for autonomy.

Dar, who serves as Cabinet officer for regional development and security, said the bid for autonomy had dragged “too long” and the the region’s officials should “take a long hard look at this agenda.”

He described the institutional building as “tough” and would “require hard work and people who believe and work with you.”

Bill seeks P75 billion

At the RDC meeting, Mountain Province Rep. Maximo Dalog Jr. said a new autonomy bill would be filed by all Cordillera lawmakers on Dec. 2.

The bill seeks, among other things, the creation of a trust fund for a 10-year subsidy of about P75 billion from the national government.

Previous autonomy measures sought to farm out the subsidy to all Cordillera provinces annually, but Dalog said they preferred to preserve the funds for big-ticket projects benefiting the region.