September 22, 2018

THE HONORABLE REPRESENTATIVES

Philippine House of Representatives
Constitution Hills, Quezon City, Philippines 1126

THE HONORABLE SENATORS

Senate of the Philippines
Senate of the Philippines, Roxas Blvd., Pasay City

Dear Legislators of the Philippines,

I am writing this letter to openly support the passing of the House Bill No.
5343 “An Act Establishing the Autonomous Region of the Cordillera”, which was
filed by the congressmen representing six provinces and one city which will make
up the autonomous region. The bill had been filed with the House of
Representatives on March 20, 2017, by Representatives Teddy B. Baguilat Jr. of
Ifugao, Joseph Sto. Nino Bernos of Abra, Eleanor Bulut Begtang of Apayao,
Ronald M. Cosalan of Benguet, Maximo B. Dalog of Mountain Province, Allen
Jesse C. Mangaoang of Kalinga, and Mark O. Go of Baguio City. In the
widespread concern shown by our officials for the proposed Bangsamoro
Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao, we have tended to forget the other
autonomous region provided in our Constitution – the Cordilleras of Northern
Luzon. This is the home of some 1.2 million indigenous peoples generally known
to lowlanders as Igorots although they actually belong to several ethnolinguistic
groups.

I am a student of the Saint Louis University, taking up Bachelor of Law, a

native of Kalinga Province which is part of the Cordillera Region and most
especially a Cordilleran who, before you, is humbly asking for your support for
House Bill No. 5343 to be passed as a law. Cordillera autonomy is seen by most of
the Cordilleran legislators as the most effective option to provide the region with
the needed solid foundation to pursue sustainable development as the region hopes
to benefit from the management and use of natural resources. Furthermore, the
autonomy of the Cordillera region will promote diversity through the formulation
of multicultural policies for indigenous people. A lifelong dream of the Cordillera
people will be realized when the Cordillera Organic Law will be finally approved
by Congress and signed into law by Preside Duterte. We, Cordilleran hope that day
will be soon.

Early this year, a Cordillera Leaders Forum was convened where support
for the autonomous region solidified, with encouragement from the new
administration’s Secretary Jesus Dureza of the Office of the Presidential Adviser
on the Peace Process. President Duterte himself expressed his support for
Cordillera’s aspiration to become an autonomous region as mandated by the
Constitution.

Mindanao senators, congressmen, and other officials recently called for the
swift approval of House Bill 5343. Citing the support of Luzon legislators for the
Bangsamoro Organic Law, Mindanao congressmen sought to return the favor and
called for the swift passage of the organic law for CAR. “We must give our
brothers in the north the same autonomy we gave our brothers in the South” Rep.
Manuel F. Zubiri of Bukidnon said.

HISTORY

For years before the EDSA revolution of 1986, groups of Cordillera people
had carried out an insurgency against the national government, charging
discrimination and neglect and demanding recognition of their rights as indigenous
peoples in their ancestral domain. The Cordillera People’s Liberation Army led by
Conrado Balweg finally laid down its arms in an agreement signed in 1986. The
next year, President Corazon C. Aquino issued Executive Order 220 creating the
Cordillera Administrative Region, with these mandates – to administer the affairs
of government in the region, to accelerate its economic and social growth and
development, and to prepare for the establishment of a Cordillera autonomous
region. The Bangsamoro and the Cordillera regions became part of the 1987
Constitution, with Section 15, Article X:

“ There shall be created autonomous regions in Muslim Mindanao

and in the Cordilleras consisting of provinces, cities, municipalities, and
geographical areas sharing common and distinctive historical and cultural
heritage, economic and social structures, and other relevant
characteristics within the framework of this Constitution and the national
sovereignty as well as territorial integrity of the Republic of the
Philippines.”

The indigenous concept of autonomy means that no other community

imposes its own rules, laws, or will on any other, thus explaining partly the
presence of short term alliances, since each village jealousy guards its own
sovereignty in relation to the internal community political affairs.

The Cordillera and Muslim Mindanao are two of the regions in the country
that were given special treatment in the Constitution, the fundamental law of the
land, because the two regions have been mentioned to achieve autonomous status
as the means of the national government to correct whatever injustices that were
committed in the past wherein the said regions, although asymmetric, were
deprived of equitable chances of growth and development that could have resulted
to the putting in place of more development opportunities in the countryside.
 The Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao was established in 1998 and
was later expanded several years later while the CAR maintained its temporary
status after two failed attempts to achieve autonomy primarily because of the
watered down version of the autonomy law when the Cordillera had its first crack
to establish an autonomous region during the plebiscite on January 30, 1990 where
the people overwhelmingly rejected the said law. Two organic acts establishing the
Cordillera Autonomous Region failed ratification in 1990 and 1998, with studies
revealing that this was due to the people’s lack of understanding of the autonomy
issue, compounded by misinformation drives by some sectors. Only Ifugao
province voted in favor of autonomy but the Supreme Court (SC) held that a
province cannot constitute an autonomous region. The same scenario was repeated
on March 7, 1998 when the Cordillerans again rejected the autonomy law that was
submitted to them for ratification during a plebiscite primarily because there was
lack of material time to campaign for its ratification considering that it was the
presidential elections then and only Apayao voted in favor of the autonomy law.

In March 2006, the Regional Development Council (RDC) which was tasked
to take over the functions of the defunked Cordillera bodies, the Cordillera
Executive board (CEB), the Cordillera Regional Assembly (CRA) and the
Cordillera Bodong Administration, embraced autonomy as its overarching agenda
for growth and development. The RDC-CAR was able to lobby with the previous
and present administrations the inclusion of meager funds for the region’s renewed
quest for autonomy, especially in the conduct of the required baseline survey to
ascertain the pulse of the Cordillerans in the region’s renewed quest for autonomy
and the succeeding pulse surveys, information education campaign, capability
building among others. For more than 12 years now, the RDC-CAR was able to
gain headway in the region’s renewed quest for autonomy having convinced all
Cordillera congressmen to file House Bill 5343 in the House of Representatives
and Senate Bill 1678 in the Senate.
 In 2012, the RDC-CAR embarked in the Unity Gong Relay as one of the
major activities of the Cordillera month celebration wherein the gong, which is
commonly used in the celebration of rituals ad festivals in the region, is circulated
in the different provinces and cities to drum beat the region’s clamor for self-
governance. Now on its 7th year, the Unity gong Relay was able to instill
awareness among the people in the provinces the importance of achieving
autonomy in terms of charting their development thrusts although most of the time,
the informed sectors are the ones being met for the supposed information and
education campaign.

“We know that the sound of the gong when it is played is a call to all
people in the community to come and unite for celebration of life. We are
doing this not simply to commemorate Cordillera Day but to make known
our full support to House Bill 5343 entitled An Act Establishing the
Autonomous Region for the Cordillera,” Edubba (Vice Governor of
Kalinga) stressed.

Why do I have to share these historical accounts? It is because this is one of

the basic reasons for our existence as a region. It speaks of our collective character
that has made us survive in the worst of times. The fact that we share a common
historical process and experience in our history have helped carve a distinct
collective personality, a distinct color and a socio-cultural bond that sum up to
make our people hood and our identity.

Next, this whole journey towards national integration for the people of the
Cordillera from the time of the Commonwealth to the present Republic is another
historical process that must be evaluated and weighed objectively in order to steer
development towards a more sound, a more just, and a more sustainable
development for us in our region. This is in fact saying that the integration of the
Cordillera region and its people into the mainstream over the past century have
resulted in not a small measure to the socio-cultural, political, and economic
disintegration of our region. We should recall that at one time, a slice of the
Cordillera Region was integrated into Region I while the other half of our region
was integrated into Region II.

Many of our political decisions are being made above and outside of the
region for us. Most of our natural resources which include our mineral resources,
our trees and forests, as well as our rivers were transferred into the control of big
interests. Our region in the Cordillera has virtually been used and treated as a
resource base by and for bigger interests to our disadvantage. Integration and
development in its many faces for us has meant disadvantage. Meanwhile under
the present set-up our region continues to receive one of the lowest allocations
from the national budget. And so this is what we get for all the wealth of natural
resources that is being taken away from us. If this is the type of development that
will remain with us for the years to come it is not difficult to see where this will
lead us to. The creation of the Cordillera Administrative Region which was
supposed to prepare the way for an autonomous region of the Cordillera as
government’s recognition and response to correcting a past imbalance and an
unjust set-up. It should not therefore come as a surprise if the Regional
Development Council should sound out the call for the continued “quest for
autonomy” because it is only fulfilling a constitutional mandate.

DESIRED OUTCOME

In the 31 years of the 1987 Constitution, the Cordillera region has yet to
achieve real autonomy. It is today a progressive region contributing 1.8 percent to
the national Gross Domestic Product (GDP), principally through its agricultural
production of cabbage, rice, and corn.
 With greater autonomy as the ARC, the Cordilleras under the House Bill No.
5343 will continue to have an annual assistance of P10 billion for the first five
years and P5 billion for the next five years, while the local government units will
continue to receive their Internal Revenue Allotments (IRA) like the rest of the
nation’s LGUs.

But as an autonomous region, it will have “the opportunity to decide on

what policies and programs will best fit the region and, at the same time, have the
freedom to pursue their political, economic, social, and cultural development
within the framework of the national sovereignty and in accordance with the local
practices and cultural heritage and identity,” Zubiri said.

We, the people of the Cordillera Region are well known to the rest of the
country for their distinctive mountain culture. We live in the provinces of Abra,
Apayao, Benguet, Ifugao, Kalinga, and Mountain Province, and the city of Baguio.
The provinces and city which vote in a plebiscite for the establishment of the
autonomous region would form the ARC.

The organization of ARC in the far north of the country could serve as
model for other regions of the country should a federal system of government is set
up for the country under a new Constitution. There will be the other region in the
far south – the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region, for which a law has also been
filed in Congress.

In between these two regions will be several other possible autonomous

regions – Northern Luzon’s Ilocano provinces, Central Luzon, Metro Manila,
Southern Luzon, Bicol, Western, Central,, and Eastern Visayas, Northern and
Southern Mindanao. These will have to await the approval and ratification of a
new Constitution.

Thus, in previous and initial discussions, formal and informal, some points
and consensus have become clearer:

(a) That the concept of autonomy for the Cordillera Region should
never be discriminating in any manner against any particular person or group
of people but should consider all people living in the region as natives and
citizens of the region with equal rights, privileges, and opportunities. If
Cordillera autonomy does not carry this principle then it should not even be
discussed at all.

(b) We belong to a new order. We do not intend to go back and live

like the way our ancestors lived because that is a thing of the past. While we
preserve the good things of the past, the beautiful aspects of our culture, and
the important values, what we are trying to develop is a set-up that should
respond more effectively and efficiently within the context of a new order. It
must be concept that is better than a previous one. If it does not, then there is
no sense pursuing that kind of concept and aspiration.

(c) Autonomy should mean a greater local control of plans and

political decisions in matters that affect the region. Imperial Manila has the
tendency to dictate plans for us in the region. Autonomy should be able to
reverse that process.

(d) The development of an autonomous concept should be

participatory down to the grassroots levels. The subject of plebiscite should
 not be the primary goal of this process. Only the people can clamor for such
an exercise if they grasp the essence of this concept. A process should be
designed to effectively involve the widest participation of people and of
different sectors in our region. We know that this process will take time but
that is the reality of this type of political exercise so that we can say at the
end of the day that the people of the Cordillera are part of that vision. And
for as long as they are part of that vision I am sure that our people will not
just be recipients of development but they will become a dynamic force for
meaningful developments for the region.

In fact at this time of unparalleled global economic crisis, it is but proper

that the discussions for regional autonomy should be expanded and intensified to
enrich the concept even more. We have to be empowered for the worse.

DO WE, CORDILLERANS, REALLY WANT AUTONOMY?

The quest for Cordillera autonomy is a decades-old struggle awash with the
blood of martyrs, like Kalinga chieftain Macli-ing Dulag and nameless others who
fought attempts by multinational corporations, private armies and the national
government to seize control of our ancestral land and the natural resources. It is
borne out of years of oppression and exploitation. Autonomy’s roots were
imbedded more than a century ago when Cordillera tribes fought Spanish rule even
without the concept of nationhood in their minds. Simply put, Cordillerans will kill
and die for their land.

The Americans established their dominion over the region by embracing the
culture of the tribes and becoming “White Apos” or self-proclaimed adopted sons.
 Succeeding governments tried to cajole the people into assimilating
themselves into mainstream society through scholarship programs and jobs in the
mines.

Still, some tribal leaders saw “national integration” as a cover to silence

dissent from schemes to control and exploit the rich mineral and forest resources of
the Cordillera. But since the start of the campaign for autonomy, there have been
two failed attempts at getting autonomy approved by the Cordillerans. However, it
is incorrect to say that the Cordillerans do not want autonomy simply because they
overwhelmingly rejected the autonomy laws in plebiscites in 1990 and 1998.

I believe we voted not on the issue of autonomy itself but on the structure of
autonomy as contained in the organic act and the personalities behind the drive for
autonomy.

People voted “no” for various reasons. The Catholic hierarchy launched its
“no” campaign with the message that autonomy would just add another layer of
corruption where politicians would grease themselves with the pork of P10 billion
a year. The Left boycotted the plebiscite, saying that the organic act left
sovereignty over natural resources at the behest of the national government.

There were parochial sectoral concerns, like the fear of government

employees that their salaries would be lessened under a regional government. Then
there were tribes that rejected the organic act simply because they did not want
politicians identified with the autonomy drive to lord it over the region as corrupt
kings.
 But the questions persist, the same queries President Aquino asked “Are the
Cordillerans ready for autonomy? Is it something they really want?” A recent
survey conducted by the Regional Development Council seems to bolster this
reflection. In most of the six Cordillera provinces (Abra, Apayao, Benguet, Ifugao,
Kalinga and Mt. Province) and Baguio City, the majority (40 to 60 percent of
respondents) were either unaware of autonomy or undecided about it.

I ask myself what seems to be the conundrum, considering that most of the
region’s political leaders are behind autonomy. And there’s no doubt that billions
of pesos in funds promised in the proposed bill could lead to economic growth in
the region.

Perhaps this was the reason the previous attempts failed. Perhaps there were
feelings of indifference, apathy and indecision about autonomy because we were
fixated on the money and the political power that accompanied it. We failed to
focus on the essence of autonomy, on the reason our ancestors fought and died so
that we could talk of self-rule today—which is the right to self-determination.

We must reinvent our information and education campaign on autonomy.

The messaging must be enticing and innovative. We should start on the historical
premise of self-determination for the sake of our young who are unaware of the
heroism of Macli-ing, the saga of Balweg, and the gallant resistance of our
forefathers against foreign invaders.

Then we can proceed to discuss with all sectors in the community—farmers,

government employees, tricycle drivers and businessmen—on how an autonomous
Cordillera will benefit their lives, and not just the pockets of politicians. It’s safe to
say that majority of those educated about the autonomy campaign supports the
House Bill No. 5343. In this manner, proper information dissemination about the
pros and cons of the campaign must be made.

House Bill 5343 aims to establish a political entity and provide for its basic
structure of government in recognition of the justness and cause of the Cordillerans
and to secure their identity and posterity and allow for meaningful governance.In
his explanatory note of the bill, Baguilat said the two previous Organic Acts for an
ARC were enacted but failed ratification mainly because of the people’s lack of
information and discussion on the pros and cons of governance.

During the hearing, Deputy Minority Leader and ABS Party-list Rep.
Eugene Michael de Vera said the basic problem in any failure of implementation of
the law is leadership deficiency.Mercado said the implementation of some local
government projects have not been completed although funds were properly given
to different departments.

“How come that some roads or buildings are not yet completed… there are
buildings that have no roof,” said Mercado. Mercado said the national government
can coordinate the needs of a specific region, but the implementation in the
localities is the problem.

Meanwhile, Rep. Alfredo “Albee” Benitez (3rd District, Negros Occidental)

inquired about the tax collection of the CAR. Cordillera Regional Development
Council (CRDC) Vice Chairperson Milagros Rimando said the CAR collected P5.7
billion in 2016 and P4.8 billion in 2015. The amounts are lesser than the funding
allocated by the national government to the CAR, according to Rimando.
 Domogan said the CAR tax collections are rather small because major
companies operating in CAR remit their tax payments through their head offices in
Metro Manila. The committee conducted the hearing to discuss with officials of the
Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) and the CAR about their
current situation, structure, and functions in relation to a possible creation of
federal states in the event of a shift from a unitary to a federal form of government.

CORDILLERA AUTONOMY: IS IT THE KEY TO A CORDILLERA

ADMINISTRATIVE REGION?

Considering the question stated above, is it really a key for this region
to become more progressive? I’ve done my research, I’ve weighed the
consequences and benefits, and I can confidently say that it is a key, or maybe if
not a key, a stepping stone for the Cordillerans to become a more progressive
region as compared to what progress means to them now. This article below is one
of the articles written by the friend of my father who is a proud supporter of the
Autonomy Campaign since its first introduction and appeal to the Congress:

“Baguio city mayor Mauricio Domogan, in the series of public consultations

in the city and around in the provinces, says the best way to explain
autonomy is that existing powers and benefits the region is getting from the
national government will be maintained further once autonomy is achieved.

The five principles are:

1) Permanent regional identity where the term Cordillerans shall apply to

all Filipino citizens who are domiciled within the territory of the CAR;

2) The powers and benefits of the region, including the different units within
it, shall not be diminished;
3) Nationally paid officials and employees will continue to be nationally
paid and the budgetary needs of the regional agencies where they belong
shall continue to be provided by the national government;

4) Mandate the national government, under the Autonomy law to provide

subsidy for the first ten years of the Cordilera Autonomous Region over and
above the internal revenue allotment and other existing benefits that are
being enjoyed by the local government units; and

5) After the period of subsidy, the national government shall continue to

provide sufficient budgetary allocation to the region in order to ensure its
financial stability and sustenance.

The powers to be developed after the enforcement of autonomy are:

1. Administrative organization;
2. Creation of sources revenue;
3. Ancestral domain and natural resources;
4. Personal, family, and property relations;
5. Regional, urban, and rural planning development;
6. Economic, social, and tourism development;
7. Educational policies;
8. Preservation and development of the cultural heritage;
9. Powers, functions, and responsibilities now being exercised by the
departments of the national government, except with respect to certain
areas such as national security, postal management, foreign affairs,
postal service, coinage and fiscal and monetary policies, quarantine,
customs and tariffs, citizenship, naturalization, immigration and
deportation, general auditing, civil service and elections and foreign
trade.
 In a consultation held in Mt. Province lately last year, the Indigenous
People raised a fearsome issue, “is the Ampatuan case a failure of
Autonomy?”

Franklin Odsey, chairman on Regional Development and Autonomy

says, “The abuse of powers by the Ampatuans did not come about because
of regional autonomy. It came about because of several factors like the
history in warlordism in Muslim Mindanao, the coddling by the national
government of the Ampatuan, and lack of an empowered citizenry to stop an
abusive politician.”

As inhabitants of the Cordillera Administrative Region, when will we

fully understand the provisions of autonomy? As the third organic act is
drafted and will be presented to the congress on May this year, will we
finally accept it and approve once a plebiscite is conducted in our region?
Long live the Cordillera Region!!!”

The rationale of autonomy is noble, and the concept does provide many
avenues for the people of the Cordilleras to develop themselves. I for one believe
that some form of self-determination is necessary for our people to realize their
potentials. We might even fail miserably in the exercise of this right, but in the end
we shall be better off realizing our folly. But current proponents must convince the
Cordillera people of the reality of oppression, and cite examples of how the current
dispensation is instrumental in suppressing the people’s right to self-determination.
Only when the people understand the problem shall they appreciate the solution.
However, the RDC and other government offices that are pushing for autonomy
are hardly expected to condemn the very government and system that they are part
of. They should point to current and actual examples of oppression and
exploitation that autonomy will solve. If they however continue on their current
path, then the “renewed quest for autonomy” shall fail, and rightly so.
 “Only when the real intent of autonomy will be implemented can
autonomy be good.”

This was how Dr. Nagasura Madale, a cultural anthropologist who was
among the 58-man commission who drafted the organic act in Mindanao, describes
autonomy. He said that while funds are already allocated in Mindanao, if the
leaders in Mindanao will not lobby for their release, these will not be received by
the people. He said that this system continues to affect the development in
Mindanao. He said that when they drafted the organic act, it reflected what the
people clamored for in Mindanao. However, aside from not being able to finish the
organic act due to the limited time given to the commission, what they
accomplished was again revised by Congress before its approval. He added that
many provisions were changed which did not reflect what Mindanao wanted. He
said autonomy is good if it can be assured that the intention for its passage, which
the drafter of the organic act will come up with, will really be carried by Congress
which will pass the act.

Twenty two years ago Congressman, Atty. Billy Claver addressed the House
of Representatives quoting, “a Kalinga”, whom he described as, “Whose wisdom
now belongs to the ages”. Here, I lift passages from the book of selected speeches
by William F. Claver.

“Land is a grace that must be nurtured, enriched, made to bear fruit. Land is
sacred and beloved. From its womb spring the lives of the indigenous people of the
Cordillera.”

The words I have just quoted form part of the historic legacy bequeathed to
the Filipino people by Kalinga leader Macliing Dulag, who led the Cordillera
struggle for self-determination against the oppressive imposition of development
planned from above, without consultation with and consent from the people who
stood to be affected.

A PENNY FOR YOUR THOUGHTS

As a concerned citizen of the Cordillera Region, and a supporter of House

Bill No. 5343, firm believers of progress through autonomy, and a fan of Macliing
Dulag, please spare some penny for my thoughts. It is argued that the region’s
quest for autonomy is purely a political quest. That is a self-serving thought.
Autonomy can also be a scientific and development quest. Depending on what it is,
autonomy should be everybody’s quest. For me, one thing is sure though. It must
not find cause with how the previous Cordillera bodies pursued it and destroyed its
merits. Which is; “the quest, power and post, and money and perks” belongs to us
royals and purebloods.

This is why the way some of us talk and negate each other in the current
autonomy quest is still too far in the dark. We seem to be in it so we can repeat the
same self-serving mistake one more time. This is not my personal opinion by the
way. It is a public perception that characterized how the quest’s past plebiscites
were judged.

Autonomy is a challenging Igorot family pursuit. That is a personal view and

should not be seen as self-serving in its spirit, idealism and application.

Autonomy as an ideal for all Cordillerans of purebloods and mixed bloods

coming together in genuine community may yet win to guide good governance in
the region now. When it does, it can be both disadvantageous even dangerous to
some. It will be constantly threatened by opportunists of all kinds. That is why
“autonomy: forget it” is also a well-meaning advice if we do not have that
character and conviction, en masse, to sacrifice and make the idea work. That ideal
is still not visible in our psyche and with our current ways.

However, what is the guarantee that when more funds will be at the
disposition of the regional leadership courtesy of the dawning of Cordillera
autonomy the same will be put to proper use this time? Now if there is no such
guarantee could be made, what good will autonomy brings to the people of the
region? As far as I am concerned, for so long as we do not change our
reprehensible attitude and ways when it comes to government funds, the Cordillera
could become autonomous or even become an independent country but its lot will
not change as a result.

Autonomy is often defined as “self-rule” or the “power to make one’s own

decisions.” However, some sectors have automatically equated that to mean
“decision-making by one,” which to me should not be. Meanwhile, others have
associated the clamor for regional autonomy with the personal interests of
individuals, particularly politicians. If this is the case, then all the more that there is
need to consult all who come to be consulted and want to say their piece, including
those who feel they are being left out in the consultation process.

SOME of the “what if” questions about autonomy keep recurring, but the
real answers would never come unless we go and try self-rule as provided in the
1987 Constitution. We cannot, for one, use the actual and real problems of the
existing autonomous region in Mindanao to measure the outcome of autonomy up
here in the Cordillera.
 In the same token, the failure of democracy in one country cannot be the
basis to believe that it would fail in another nation before it is even tried. In the
same vein, a system’s actual success in one area is never an assurance of its
triumph in another.

“Optimistic people see opportunities in every calamity while

pessimistic people see calamities in every opportunity.”

This was the lesson I learned from one of my mentors when I was still in
college. What are the situations in which we can prove the truthfulness of this
idea? I’ll leave this question for your mind to ponder, dear legislators.

In a broader perspective, I observed the same situation in the quest for

Cordillera autonomy as provided for in Executive Order 220 under the1987
Constitution. The main reason for the non-attainment of an autonomous region in
the Cordillera could be the lack of understanding about the advocacy, which is
aggravated by people who have a negative view on the matter. Those who maintain
a negative stand base the bad experiences of the Autonomous Region in Muslim
Mindanao as one of their main reasons in blocking approval of the bill for
Cordillera autonomy.

I may not yet be a lawyer to understand all the provisions of the bill but as
an optimistic leader, I don’t want us to be imprisoned by the “nightmares” or
negative experiences of other people in the past to hinder us in pursuing some good
proposals or programs towards peace and development in the region.

The supposed sad experiences in the ARMM will serve as a guide for
stakeholders in the quest for Cordillera autonomy in order to refine the bill and in
order for our region to catch up in terms of development with other regions by
coming up with policies, programs and projects for the Cordillera and for
Cordillerans.

I share the thoughts of Baguio Mayor Mauricio Domogan that it is really

important to educate Cordillerans about autonomy.

It may be good if the Cordillera Regional Development Council will

organize another series of educational debates with the support of every media
outlet here in the Cordillera so that the pros and cons of the regional advocacy will
be further examined.

At this juncture let me encourage that those at the helm of development for
our region should really sit down occasionally to study and assess what this
exercise and quest for autonomy is and what it means for us, specially the greater
majority of people in the Cordillera Region.

We would never know the fruits of autonomy unless we try it.

AUTONOMOUSLY YOURS,
THEA MAE M. WACAS