Partido Reporma chairman and standard-bearer Sen. Panfilo “Ping” Lacson has vowed to let the people of the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) decide on whether it should receive greater autonomy.
The topic was raised during a brief public forum on Saturday, Dec. 18, that followed shortly after their “Online Kumustahan” with provincial and municipal government officials and residents at the Benguet Sports Complex when he barnstormed La Union and neighboring provinces.
Lacson said he would rather focus on consultation and feeling the public’s pulse when it comes to granting local autonomy or fully autonomy.
“Ano ba ang damdamin ng mga tao tungkol sa magkaroon ng local autonomy o ‘yung full autonomy dito sa Cordillera? Dapat hingin natin ‘yung pulso ng mga tagarito. After all, sila ‘yung magiging most affected, hindi ba (How do the people feel about having local autonomy or full autonomy here in the Cordilleras? We should get the pulse of those who live here. After all, they are the ones who will be most affected by it),” Lacson pointed out.
Partido Reporma senatorial aspirant Dr. Minguita Padilla said that as far as she is concerned, there are stakeholders from CAR who feel strongly about legalizing the autonomy of the region. Padilla traces her heritage to Benguet province, specifically Baguio City.
“I had a dialogue with some people from here including relatives... and talagang (really) they feel very strongly, I believe, about the Cordillera autonomy,” Dr. Padilla said.
A report from the regional office of the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) in CAR confirmed an ongoing CSO-led information campaign for the national government to allow self-governance in the region.
According to NEDA-CAR, there are three pending legislations filed in the 18th Congress to establish the Autonomous Region of the Cordillera—Senate Bill No. 1232, which was filed by Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri, House Bill 7778 filed by Benguet legislative caretaker Rep. Eric Yap, and related consolidated measures filed under House Bill 5687 by all congressmen from CAR.
The 1987 Constitution has allowed the establishment of two autonomous regions in the Philippines, one in Mindanao, which is now the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), and CAR.
However, majority of the people in the Cordilleras rejected to legalize its autonomous status in two separate plebiscites that were conducted back in 1990 and 1998.
Lacson, who is currently seeking the presidency in the upcoming May 2022 elections, assured he will follow the will of the people when dealing with these types of legislative proposals.
He said this is similar to his position on the creation of Negros Island Region, a proposal raised to him when he visited Bacolod City in Negros Occidental last November.