Below is an article by Sun Star Publishing:

Cordillera lawmakers filed House Bill 5595 in the House of Representatives Tuesday [6 December 2011] raising hopes the current administration will push it as a priority bill.

Members of the Regional Development Council (RDC) sought audience with Department of the Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo last Wednesday at the Sulo Riviera Hotel here seeking his support to make the latest autonomy push a priority bill of the Aquino administration.

The Cordillera for the past years has been conducting consultations with various sectors in coming up with a draft organic act which will make up the Autonomous Region in the Cordillera as provided in the 1987 Constitution.

Cordillera leaders believe an autonomous government will be a way of fast-tracking development in the region which has been left behind by other regions in the past administrations since its creation in 1986.

Despite being a region since 1986, the Cordillera has been lagging behind in terms of road networks all over the country while majority of its component provinces remain in the top 20 poorest provinces.

RDC Chair and Kalinga Governor Jocel Baac stressed it is important for President Benigno Aquino III to set House Bill 5595 a priority legislative bill.

Representative Bernardo Vergara (Baguio) claimed that despite a solid push from regional lawmakers, the current trend in the House of Representatives would take years.

He said it is important to seek audience with Aquino and present the Organic Act as a collective clamor of the Cordillera people.

Robredo told RDC members they should furnish his office a copy of the draft organic act and other necessary papers discussing its importance.

Robredo suggested providing a proposal to the Presidential Management Staff for an opportunity to seek audience with the President and present the RDC’s stand on the significance of proclaiming the bill as a priority of the Aquino administration next year.

RDC members believe pursuing Cordillera autonomy on a non-election year would be fruitful compared to previous attempts where elections steal the attention of voters on the importance of a regional autonomous government.

However, despite a solid push from Cordillera lawmakers, some legislators which included Representative Maximo Dalog (Mt. Province) and Representative Eleanor Bulut-Begtang (Apayao) claimed they have yet to read and go through the bill they signed and filed in Congress.

Bulut-Begtang claimed she has full trust in the RDC which prepared the draft organic act for months.

Representative Ronald Cosalan (Benguet), meanwhile, claimed he has yet to consult with his constituents especially those from the grassroots on the contents of the organic act.

RDC members also claimed they have yet to submit the autonomy bill to the University of the Philippines Law Center for critique.

This will be the third attempt of the Cordillera region to seek autonomy after two failed plebiscites in 1989 and 1998.