New Cordillera autonomy bill seeks dev’t of slopes
BAGUIO CITY—Another bill creating the constitutionally mandated autonomous Cordillera has been filed before the year ends seeking to grant the region full supervision over its national resources, including protected areas, potential mineral lands, and government reservations.
The measure also partially lifts a restriction that had made occupancy of forested mountains with 18-percent slope illegal.
House Bill No. 6981 is the latest of many autonomy measures filed as far back as the 15th Congress from 2010 to 2013. The bill seeks to convert the transitional Cordillera Administrative Region, formed by the late President Corazon Aquino in 1987, into the Cordillera Autonomous Region (CAR). It was submitted to Congress on Dec. 18.
If enacted, HB 6981 would be the third organic act establishing Cordillera autonomy, following Republic Acts No. 6766 (1989) and 8438 (1997), both of which were rejected in plebiscites held in 1990 and 1998, respectively.
Indigenous clans
The new bill incorporates provisions long sought by indigenous Filipino activists who fought for their right to self-determination in the 1980s. These include Section 84, granting the CAR “control and supervision of all natural resources,” and Section 85, which guarantees the preferential rights or benefits of the Cordillera population (1.797 million as of the 2020 Census) in using these resources.
Many residents in the provinces of Ifugao, Kalinga, Benguet, Apayao, Abra, and Mountain Province, and Baguio City are indigenous clan members with communally owned ancestral domains and other indigenous properties.
Although highland communities have thrived there for centuries, Presidential Decree No. 750 declares all lands with 18-percent slope part of the forest and not alienable. Some mountain home lots have remained untitled due to this rule, except in Benguet province, Baguio City, and Cebu province in 1985.
This provision obliges the autonomous government to “adopt measures for the development of communities occupying lands situated on slopes of 18 percent or higher by providing the necessary infrastructure and financial and technical support.”
No full backing
While Section 15, Article X of the Constitution mandates autonomous regions for the Cordillera and Muslim Mindanao, unique for their “common and distinct cultural and historical heritage,” Cordillera autonomy has not received full backing from Malacañang since its rejection by the region’s voters in the 1990s.
Last year’s bill, HB 3267, stalled after the Cabinet’s fiscal managers cited budget constraints amid the lingering impact of the coronavirus pandemic, saying the national government could only subsidize Cordillera autonomy by 2029.
HB 6981 addresses this by incorporating the expenditures and manpower of regional line agencies as part of the full devolution of powers to the autonomous government.
A consultancy firm that provided fiscal projections for the autonomous government recommended this approach, justifying the bill’s proposed allocation of a limited block grant of P75 billion over 10 years to stabilize and sustain the mountain region’s growth.
The bill was sponsored by Baguio Rep. Mauricio Domogan and other Cordillera lawmakers.
