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Friday, March 29, 2024

Draft of Cordillera autonomy law to be submitted to CAR reps

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BAGUIO CITY – The Autonomous Region of the Cordillera Organic Law Drafting Committee finalized on July 17 and 18 the working draft to be submitted to the CAR Congressmen.  The draft will be presented to the Cordillera Regional Development Council (RDC), Regional Peace and Order Council (RPOC) and its new members on August 8.

The committee clarified several concerns raised on the draft Organic Law filed in the 17th Congress. Concerns include the definition of who is a Cordilleran, the structure and powers of the Regional Legislative Assembly, and the management of natural resources and ancestral domain.

The committee retained the definition of the Cordilleran as one who is domiciled in the region but added that Cordilleran indigenous peoples shall retain their rights and identity as IPs in consonance with their Cordilleran identity. A common concern among the indigenous peoples’ sector is the need for provisions that would recognize the rights of IPs while ensuring non-discrimination between IP and non-IP Cordillerans.

The committee also refined the structure of the Regional Legislative Assembly to allow for better representation and freedom to craft relevant laws appropriate to existing local conditions in the region. The committee added a new provision highlighting the regional assembly’s role in reviewing local ordinances and resolutions for the sake of rationalizing laws for the entire autonomous region and ensuring consistency with future laws to be crafted by the assembly.

A new article was added to consolidate and specify the various provisions concerning the management of the environment and natural resources. The article emphasized the preferential rights of the Indigenous Peoples in the Cordillera on the management and development of their ancestral domain.

Dr. Peter Cosalan, a member of Cordillera Regional Consultative Commission and other previous groups tasked with crafting the Cordillera Autonomy Organic Law, emphasized that “this committee’s work is not finished until a printed copy of the autonomous charter comes out of Congress”. He reminded the committee members that these efforts are for the fulfillment of the Constitutional mandate for autonomy in the Cordillera which came out of the region-wide resistance against “developmental aggression”.

Philip Tinggonong, as Chair of the Drafting Committee, will present the finalized draft to the RDC where the Council is expected to endorse the draft to the CAR representatives.

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