BAGUIO CITY — The Consultative Committee (ConCom) reviewing the Philippine Constitution has heard the voice of the Cordillera people after a two-day public consultation it conducted here until Tuesday — a unified support for the conversion of Cordillera into an autonomous region towards the country’s shift to a federal form of government.
On Tuesday, the public consultation was capped by the signing of support by the participants.
On June 25-26, the ConCom sought the insights of the Cordillera people on federalism through several sessions. One was with the Philippine Military Academy, attended by over 500 officials and cadets. Another was a town hall meeting with various sectors of the Cordillera community, attended by about a hundred people. Another is a meeting with representatives of local governments, non-government organization, the Regional Development Council (RDC), regional line agencies, and private sectors, with an audience of over a thousand people.
The ConCom also held a convention of barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan officials, students, and professionals numbering about 2,500.
ConCom Commissioner Lawyer Laurence Wacnang, who hails from the Cordillera, was glad over his fellow Cordillerans’ expression of support to federalism in a consultation held in Baguio City on Tuesday with over a thousand attendees.
“I think it was very positive. Of course, you cannot remove the apprehensions of people, when there are changes, there will always be doubts and speculations but in total, it was good. In fact, I could see in their faces that they will be endorsing federalism here in the Cordillera,” he said.
Wacnang, a former Kalinga provincial governor and representative, is an advocate for Cordillera autonomy.
“They are telling that they are a little bit confused on which is better, autonomy or federalism. The two are not mutually exclusive with one another because once we are federated, autonomy is already there. Now if you want to pursue autonomy, you have to do that within the framework of the 1987 Constitution, meaning Congress has to pass the organic act,” he explained.
“I was surprised with Manang Brigitte (former National Commission on Indigenous Peoples Commissioner Brigitte Pawid) to have agreed that our proposal is favorable to the Cordillerans and that to me says a lot,” remarked another ConCom commissioner, Dr. Virgilio Bautista, who also hails from the Cordillera and the former chairman of the Cordillera RDC.
Bautista, however, clarified that the clamor of one group for a regional security is not possible. “This is something that we cannot afford to have because there is no limit to having private armies and we cannot afford that in order to maintain peace and order, which is also agreed to by the Bangsamoro,” he explained.
Bautista assured that the draft Constitution the ConCom commissioners are set to hand over to President Rodrigo Duterte in early July reflects the desires of both the Cordillera and the Bangsamoro. “We did not reduce any of their self-governing authorities, but they have to respect that the Philippines is a sovereign country,” he said.
Baguio City Mayor and RDC Chairman Mauricio Domogan expressed support to President Duterte’s call for a shift to federalism through autonomy.
Baguio City Councilor Michael Lawana, who heads the regional federation of barangay captains, also relayed his group’s support to autonomy towards federalism.
Andres Ngao-I, chairman of the Kalinga Bodong Council and the Regional Indigenous Peoples’ Education under the Department of Education (DepEd), expressed satisfaction over the public consultation conducted by the ConCom in the Cordillera.
“OK naman ito (this is okay). At least they have explained to us. But we still have to see. They have a very good proposed Constitution but we do not know what will happen in Congress. What is important is they have heard us that we are for autonomy first before federalism,” he said.
Arthur Abbacan of Pasil, Kalinga said, “It’s successful. There should be consultations with all concerned stakeholders because this is new. We have learned from past experience, where the Congress changed a number of provisions of the autonomy bill. But now, with the strong leadership of President Duterte, maybe, this is the time for us, for our country to attain what we have been clamoring for in the region, aspiration as one IP region.”
Geraoloy Palao-ay of La Trinidad, Benguet said he had learned from the public consultation. “It’s clear now. We see the connection between our clamor for autonomy, as well as federalism,” he said.
He said he agrees with the proposal to have only one education department. “I go with that. Based on what we are seeing right now in the curriculum, there is still a disparity, confusion between DepEd and CHED, yung pagpasok ng bata from K-12 sa tertiary, kung iisa yan at least we have one voice one direction na connected lahat, including TESDA,” he opined.
Joel Cervantes of Benguet said the conduct of a consultation is good. “Very nice, Cordillera elected officials were given the chance to distinguish between federalism and autonomy. It was educational on our part,” he said.
Abra Vice Governor Ronald Balao-as said their group, the Unified Cordillera Peoples Liberation Army, supports autonomy towards federalism. “We have been fighting for regional autonomy in the Cordi for almost three decades,” he noted.
The support was echoed by Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Assistant Secretary Marie Rafael, a native of Mountain Province.
The Center for Federalism and Constitutional Reform under the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) also launched the logo “Pederalismo”, bearing the Philippine flag, an eagle, and the monument of national hero Dr. Jose Rizal.
It was also revealed by the Consultative Committee that it will submit the draft Constitution it created to President Rodrigo Duterte on the first week of July, before the Chief Executive delivers his third State of the Nation Address (SONA), members said in a press conference here on Monday.
The ConCom was in the city for the Cordillera leg of consultations, the second after Dumaguete City.
Commissioner Bocobo said the draft includes most of the provisions of the 1987 Constitution with minor amendments in some sections, major revision in some, especially provisions that are outdated or no longer applicable, and some new articles.
Bautista said while the consultations with different sectors in the regions are still being conducted, the discussions will still form part of the report that will be submitted to the President.
The President will then submit the same to Congress, which will convene as a Constituent Assembly (ConAss) to finalize the revisions that will be submitted to the people for ratification in a plebiscite.
Bautista said expert resource persons were invited for their insights and inputs during Concom’s four months of regular deliberation on the Constitution.
He said while they were appointed by the President, “there were no instructions relayed nor intervention from the President” on how they will make the draft.
Ordinario, for her part, said “the provisions were carefully fought over by 22 hard-headed members. But in the end, we came up with provisions that answer the nation’s need, for the greater welfare of the people.”
Among the salient revisions in the provisions that form part of the draft is the qualification of the President, Vice President, and members of the Congress — that they must hold a college degree or its equivalent. The present Constitution only requires that the President “can read and write”.
The draft also proposes that the vote for the President will be a vote for the Vice President.
The Senate will be a representation of all the 18 regional governments that will be created, with each having two representatives to vote for, for equal representation.
There will be a maximum of 400 members of the Congress, with 60 percent to be voted by the existing Congressional districts. The 40 percent will be voted through proportional party representation, including those from the marginalized sectors.
Additional high courts will also be created — the Federal Constitutional Courts that will tackle Constitutional issues and impeachment; the Federal Administrative Courts that will tackle the decisions of the quasi-judicial bodies; the Federal Electoral Court that will handle all electoral contests. This is meant to unclog the the Supreme Court and speed up the delivery of justice.
An Inter-government Commission will resolve issues between the federal government and the regional governments and among the regional governments.
The commissioners said that up to about 12,000 cases are pending every year with the high court, which explains the delay in their resolution.
The draft also includes a provision on national security that will enable government to respond to cyber attacks.
They added that there will be no diminution of the revenue share of local governments. On the other hand, the regional governments will be empowered to collect certain taxes such as documentary taxes, sales, licenses, franchise taxes, and fees.
The regional governments can also come up with revenue measures to gain more funds for their operation. However, the regional governments are barred from coming up with taxes that will redound to double taxation.
Solutions to problems and issues would no longer take much time, as the regional government can already address them, the proponents said.
The commissioners were one in saying that the concept of distributing the power and making the regions strong is the primary idea in Federalism. The draft also contains a fiscal protection for the federal government to ensure that its national operation would also be strong.
They also assured that there will be no displacement of state workers, but protection, not only for the regular government employees, also for the temporary workers.** PNA
