BAGUIO CITY — The Cordillera Regional Development Council (RDC) said its new drive for Cordillera autonomy has been drawing support from various sectors.
Earlier, various groups in the government and private sector in the Cordillera passed a resolution urging the six congressmen in the region to support the proposed autonomy which is mandated by the 1987 Constitution.
The Baguio-La Trinidad-Itogon-Sablan-Tuba (BLIST) Association of Retired Persons (BARP) was the first group to pass a resolution supporting the quest for self-governance.
The Cordillera Regional Assembly (CRA) also passed its resolution of support when the members asked Congressmen Mauricio G. Domogan of Baguio City, Samuel Dangwa of Benguet, Elias Bulut Jr. of Apayao, Manuel Agyao of Kalinga and Mountain Province, Cecilia Luna of Abra, and Solomon Chungalao of Ifugao to support the bid for regional autonomy by spearheading efforts to pass a House bill for the purpose.
The CRA said multi-sectoral leaders, mostly professionals, have organized themselves into one group for the sole purpose of extending support for the Cordillera autonomy proposal.
Section 15 of Article 10 of the 1987 Constitution mandates the creation of an autonomous region in both Cordillera and Muslim Mindanao.
However, it was only in Mindanao where the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao was established. This is so because the people of the Cordillera overwhelmingly rejected twice the Organic Act for autonomy.
The CRA said with the present administrative setup in the region, the Cordillera could not control the use of its resources because it has no power to make its own laws as a self-governing region.
The same sentiment was earlier expressed by Cordillera leaders who are advocating for autonomy.
The RDC believes the establishment of an autonomous region will hasten the socio-economic development in the region.
Local officials said there seems to be an injustice in as far as the distribution of the national budget to the provinces is concerned. They noted that the six provinces in the region have been receiving a relatively small share although the resources of the Cordillera greatly contribute funds to the national coffers.
A survey conducted by RDC showed that lack of understanding of the merits of an autonomous setup was the principal reason why the autonomy bid was rejected by the people in the plebiscites held on Jan. 30, 1990 and March 7, 1998. DEXTER A. SEE Manila Bulletin
