HOUSE COMMITTEE APPROVES BILL CREATING CORDILLERA AUTONOMOUS REGION

A bill seeking to establish the Cordillera Autonomous Region (CAR) has been approved by the Committee on Local Government at the House of Representatives. House Bill (HB) 3267, also known as the Cordillera
Autonomous Region bill, was refiled by Rep. Mark Go together with the representatives of the Cordillera, Reps. Menchie Bernos, Eleanor Bulut-Begtang, Solomon Chungalao, Maximo Dalog, Jr., Allen Jesse
Mangaoang and Eric Yap.

The bill was approved by the House on 3rd and final reading and was transmitted to the Senate in the
previous Congress, but for lack of material time, the Senate was not able to act on the measure. HB 3267 is set to be transmitted to the Committees on Appropriations and Ways and Means to discuss its funding
and revenue provisions before its submission for plenary consideration and approval. Once passed into law, the Cordillera region will exercise meaningful self-governance where Cordillerans will be “free to pursue their political, economic, social and cultural development within the framework of national
sovereignty and in accordance with the Constitution.”

The Cordillera region will remain an integral and inseparable part of the country’s territory, while transferring regional government powers to local government units, particularly in areas of education, health, human resources, science and technology, and people empowerment.

The bill also proposes an equitable and proportionate share in the country’s annual national revenue, as well as foreign assisted projects. Rep. Go added that since 1987, the Cordillera region has been placed under a transitory system of administration in preparation for a politically autonomous Cordillera, and that the current administrative region was “not meant to serve our region in perpetuity.” According to Rep. Go, the time is ripe for the region to fulfill its goals of autonomy as Mthe political, economic, technological, and social landscapes of the Cordilleras have evolved.

Amianan Balita Ngayon