BAGUIO CITY – Mayor Mauricio G. Domogan underscored an autonomous region in the Cordillera will be the future of the region because it will ensure the preservation of the region’s rich history, culture, and traditions and guarantee the preservation of the environment while making sure that the region will benefit from its resources with lesser restraint from outside forces.
The local chief executive pointed out the unified stand of the seven Cordillera lawmakers in filing House Bill (HB) 5343 or the Organic Act for the Cordillera is already a good sign towards achieving the desired autonomous status for the region in the next few years.
“We will start with our current situation. Local governments will continue to enjoy their powers contained in the Local Government Code of the Philippines and their Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) from the national government. There will be no diminution of powers and benefits,” Domogan stressed.
He added the previous pronouncements of no less than President Rodrigo Duterte who expressed support to the aspiration of Cordillerans to be autonomous and Presidential Peace Adviser Jesus Dureza who vowed to work out the certification of the proposed autonomy bill as an urgent administration measure will greatly help in facilitating the enactment of the autonomy law which will be submitted to the people for ratification.
According to him, there is no truth to the claim of critics of autonomy that it will be an added layer of bureaucracy, citing that such belief is not true because some of the powers of the Cabinet Secretaries will be devolved to the autonomous regional government while the Regional Governor will be given a seat in the Cabinet that means direct access for the office and other ranking officials to the national government wherein issues arising from the autonomous region could be easily resolved on their level.
Aside from enjoying their existing powers and benefits, he explained local governments will be receiving added benefits in terms of the subsidy which will be provided by the national government, particularly the P10 billion annual subsidy for the first five years of existence of the autonomous regional government and P5 billion annually for the next five years. Of the said subsidy, 30 percent will be equally divided by the barangays, 35 percent will be distributed to the municipalities, 4 percent will be given to the provinces and highly urbanized city, 20 percent will be given to the regional government while 6 percent will remain as trust fund with 4 percent going to the component city.
Under the proposed autonomy bill, powers of the national government such as the grant of exploration permits, hydropower and mining permits, granting of ancestral land titles, grant of water rights, among others will be devolved to the autonomous regional government of the Cordillera.
By Dexter A. See