By Joel B. Belinan
As I said a couple of weeks ago, the quest for autonomy has become a priority of Cordillera leaders with the onset of this new administration. A signature campaign was set as a means to tell President Bongbong Marcos of the region’s desire to establish the Cordillera Autonomous Region.
The credit for this suggestion goes to Kalinga Congressman Allen Jesse Mangaoang who is currently the region’s most senior lawmaker, not in terms of age but because he is on his third term as congressman. He made this suggestion during the July 15 Cordillera Foundation Day program at the Baguio Convention Center.
Of course, what the congressman wants to achieve in the signature campaign is for PBBM to certify as urgent the
Autonomy Bill and a priority of his administration. The goal is for the bill to be smooth sailing in both houses of Congress and, hopefully, for the long dream for autonomy to be attained in his administration.
Remember that autonomy bills had been filed several times before but these turned out to be late whenever the Lower House passed these. So whenever it got to the Senate, there was no more time for its passage.
Congressman Mangaoang is in the best position to carry on the mantle of leadership for the push for another Autonomy Bill in the house, not only because he is the most senior among the 7 lawmakers of the region but because he has been a part of the campaign for autonomy since 3 decades ago. He was a vice mayor in the municipality of Balbalan in Kalinga during the 1998 second plebiscite for autonomy. Of course, Ifugao Congressman Solomon Chungalao is a veteran lawmaker and was a part of the past attempts to pass autonomy organic acts during the 13th , 14th , and 15th congress.
The Kalinga Congressman is giving weight to the fact that the President is from Northern Luzon and should understand the Cordillera’s aspiration for self-determination through Regional Autonomy. He, however, is not mentioning the fact that it was during the time of his father as president when people from the Cordillera took up arms against the government’s mega projects particularly the Chico Dam and the Cellophil Pulp and Paper Corporation. It was because of these that the Cordillera people led by then rebel priest Conrado Balweg brought the struggle for Cordillera autonomy to its height to avoid another situation when the national government would just ram down mega projects to the people in the region without considering the consequences and effects on the livelihood, culture, and sentiments of the locally affected communities.
For me, the suggested signature campaign should be seriously considered by the Regional Development Council composed of the region’s elected local officials, heads of various national government offices, and the private sector. It’s not just the fact that PBBM is an Ilocano from Ilocos Norte but, if am not mistaken, the Cordillera had given him the highest percentage of votes during the recent election at more than 70% of the total votes cast. Such percentage was even higher than what he got from his own region, Region 1. If that can be appreciated by PBBM, maybe there is a chance.
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