RDC-SPCAR GOES TO ABRA, APAYAO FOR AUTONOMY CAMPAIGN

October 28, 2023 Provincial

Photo Caption: Residents of Lagayan, Abra line up to sign a manifesto to support Cordillera Autonomy and House Bill 3267, with Mayor Edmarc L. Crisologo facilitating the queue during an IEC on September 21, 2023

In line with the campaign of the Cordillera Regional Development Council (RDCCAR) for regional autonomy, the Social Preparation of CAR into an Autonomous Region (SPCAR) Program staff along
with members of the RDC Speakers Bureau went to ten municipalities in Abra and Apayao which have not yet been reached by the program’s Information, Education, and Communication (IEC)
Campaigns in the past years.

Among the municipalities reached this year in Abra are Langiden and San Quintin on June 27-29, Lagayan, San Isidro, and Pilar on September 21-23, and Tubo, Licuan-Baay, and Tineg on October 3-5. Meanwhile, campaigns were held in the municipalities of Calanasan and Flora in Apayao last July 12-13. In these IECs, local government employees, barangay officials, private sector representatives, and government employees were invited to listen in a lecture and engage in an open forum where questions and concerns about regional autonomy and details about House Bill 3267: An Act Establishing the Cordillera Autonomous Region are raised and discussed. Manifestos of support were also collected after the program.

Miss and Mister Cordillera Autonomy Youth Ambassador 2022 Angela May Respicio and Shawn Michael Barilla, Dr. Gregorio Taag, and Mr. Leonard Andanan served as speakers in the IECs mentioned above. The SPCAR Program aims to conduct at least one IEC campaign for each municipality in the region. In the coming months, IECs will be coordinated with the local government units of the remaining unreached municipalities. IEC campaigns in online platforms are also done on major social media sites through the account named “One Cordillera” in Facebook,
Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and Tiktok.

National Economic Development Authority – Cordillera Administrative Region (NEDA-CAR), as the secretariat of RDC-CAR headed by Regional Director Susan A. Sumbeling, is managing the
SPCAR Program. It also leads formation and implementation of programs advocating and forwarding the Regional Autonomy agenda of Cordillera in various platforms such as the inclusion of the advocacy in development plans.