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 3267, also known as the Cordillera Autonomous Region bill, was re-filed by Rep. Mark Go together with 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 third 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 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 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.
Go added since 1987, the Cordillera has been placed under a transitory system of administration in preparation for a politically autonomous region, and that the current administrative region was “not meant to serve our region in perpetuity.”
He said the time is ripe for the region to fulfill its goals of autonomy as the political, economic, technological, and social landscapes of the Cordilleras have evolved. – Press release
April 20, 2024
