BAGUIO CITY July 09 – The Office of the President has declared July 15, Monday, a special non-working day in the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) to mark its 32nd founding anniversary.
The holiday declaration in CAR was contained in Proclamation No. 763 signed by Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea last July 4.
“On 15 July 2019, Monday, the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) will mark the celebration of its 32nd Founding Anniversary,” the proclamation read.
“It is but fitting and proper that the people of the CAR be given full opportunity to celebrate and participate in the occasion with the appropriate ceremonies,” it added.
The Palace also released three other holiday proclamations in some places to celebrate their respective historic occasions.
The Cordillera will be celebrating its 32nd founding anniversary in Tabuk City, Kalinga wherein Kalinga will serve as the host local government while the Cordillera office of the Department of Public works and Highways (DPWH-CAR) will be the host agency for this year’s celebration being the lead agency in the infrastructure committee of the Regional Development Council (RDC-CAR).
Earlier, the RDC-CAR decided to rotate the hosting of the annual celebration of the region’s founding anniversary to the different local governments comprising the CAR and the sectoral committees of the region’s policy-making body.
Executive Order No. 220 was issued by former President Corazon C. Aquino on July 15, 1987 that created the CAR which will be composed of the provinces of Abra, Benguet, Mountain Province and Baguio City from the Ilocos Region and the provinces of Ifugao and Kalinga-Apayao from the Cagayan Valley region.
Under the said presidential issuance, the CAR was tasked to perform the activities of government in the region, accelerate the socio-economic growth in the region and prepare the region for regional autonomy.
The CAR founding anniversary kicked off Tuesday with the week-long Unity Gong Relay wherein the coveted gong will be brought around the region prior to the culminating program that will be conducted in Tabuk City, Kalinga on July 15, 2019.
After the culminating program on July 15, 2019, the gong will be passed by the provincial officials of Kalinga to the provincial officials of Mountain Province considering that the province will serve as the host local government for next year’s CAR founding anniversary celebration.
The creation of the CAR was an offshoot of the September 13, 1987 peace agreement between the Philippine government represented by former President Cory Aquino and the Cordillera Peoples Liberation Army (CPLA) under the leadership of the late Fr. Conrado Balweg.
The Cordillera continues to bank on its services-driven economy to be one of the top performing regions in terms of economic growth over the past two years with its 12. Percent growth in 2017 and 7.1 percent growth in 2018.**By Dexter A. See
