Revving up autonomy in the Cordillera (Part 1)

THE NATIONAL Economic Development Authority-Cordillera Administrative Re gion (NEDA-CAR) and the Regional Development Council (RDC) is scheduling a two-training on August 16-17, 2018 at the Holiday Inn along Legarda Road for Municipal and City speakers ostensibly to expand the pool of resource persons and augment the campaign for autonomy in the region.

Finally events are moving and gaining momentum towards the decades long dream and clamor of the people of the Cordilleras to be given true autonomy.

Now for those who might have forgotten what autonomy is all about in the Cordillera a brief historical review is in order.

On July 15, 1987 then President Corazon Aquino signed Executive Order 220 series of 1987 establishing the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR). This is actually the preparatory process for the region to eventually becoming an autonomous region as envisioned in Section 15, Article 10 of the 1987 Philippine Constitution which states thus: “There shall be created autonomous regions in Muslim Mindanao and in the Cordilleras consisting of provinces, cities, municipalities, and geographical areas sharing common and distinctive historical and cultural heritage, economic and social structures, and other relevant characteristics within the framework of this Constitution and the national sovereignty as well as territorial integrity of the Republic of the Philippines.”

On June 10, 1988 Congress enacted Republic Act 6658 creating the Cordillera Consultative Commission tasked with assisting the former in the formulation of an organic act for Cordillera autonomy. Republic Act 6766 was then passed by Congress as the first Organic Act for the creation of Cordillera autonomy and approved on October 23, 1989 however, this was rejected during a plebiscite held in January 30, 1990 with only the province of Ifugao voting in favor.

The second organic act to be passed by Congress on the matter was Republic Act 8438 in December 22, 1997 but this was again rejected in another plebiscite held on March 7, 1998 with only the province of Apayao voting in favor of autonomy.

With that as a background we now have a proposed third organic act currently being pushed for approval in Congress and if it will be approved then a third plebiscite will take place for autonomy to be eventually achieved in the region.

For this third attempt at autonomy some things and events should be considered both from the local and national perspective of so called ‘good governance’ and the aspect of selfdetermination.

In the local level here in the CAR we would like to believe that we, the local government units in particular and the people in general, have been compliant with the directives of Republic Act 7160 otherwise known as the Local Government Code of 1991 specifically in how we govern ourselves following the dictates of the said law. Unfortunately, as we have also experienced the provisions of the said law is sadly insufficient to address the multivarious concerns affecting the region. This is especially true when we talk about our natural resources, our right to self-determination in the context of advancing the rights of our indigenous peoples, our right to fiscal autonomy or the management of our finances and money, and the promotion of our unique identity as a cordilleran.

All of these things are bereft of any support from the provisions of the Local Government Code precisely since the latter is by itself simply a generic law intended to be applicable to all local government units of the country of whatever province or region and without taking into consideration the uniqueness and individuality of those governed.

This is what autonomy seeks to correct.