PRESIDENTIAL PEACE Adviser Jesus G. Dureza has promised to push for legislation that will establish the Autonomous Region of the Cordillera (ARC) as Senator Juan Miguel F. Zubiri declared on Wednesday that he will author a counterpart bill in the Senate.

“I will continue to advocate Cordillera’s autonomy in the Palace and in the Senate. I would like to see this happen also, not in another time. A victory should not be postponed anymore. We like this to happen while we have an enabling environment,” Mr. Dureza said during the Congressional Forum on Cordillera Autonomy and Federalism in Quezon City on Jan. 16.

A proposal, contained in House Bill 5343 titled An Act Establishing the Autonomous Region of the Cordillera, was filed at the House of Representatives on March 20, 2017.

“I am honored to author the Autonomous Region for the Cordillera bill (in the Senate),” Mr. Zubiri said as quoted by a statement released by the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP).

Mr. Dureza also lauded the efforts of the region’s leaders and other stakeholders in continuously reaping support towards autonomy.

“The region’s advocacy is a big help for the bill. We need to raise it as often as we can publicly because we are now seeing positive indications and signs that the people would support it. You have succeeded in engaging the bigger table — the public, for your aspirations and your quest for self-determination,” Mr. Dureza said.

Deputy Presidential Peace Adviser Nabil A. Tan, a former vice-governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), discussed during the forum the similarities and differences between the ARMM and the Cordillera and shared learnings from their experiences in Mindanao.

BANGSAMORO
Meanwhile, Mr. Dureza said that the Philippine government has assured the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) that it will ensure that a Bangsamoro area in Mindanao will eventually have a mechanism for self-rule regardless of what happens to the proposed shift to a federal form of government.

In a statement released Wednesday, Mr. Dureza said that President Rodrigo R. Duterte is prepared to issue an executive order should Congress fail to pass the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law.

“Stressing that he (Mr. Duterte) can use the inherent powers of the presidency, he is ready to carve out through an executive order the area for the Bangsamoro for their self-rule,” Mr. Dureza said.

The peace adviser made the statement after the President met on Monday with representatives of the MILF in Davao City.

“President Duterte said he would push for the passage of the Bangsamoro bill and will even go to the extent of resorting to an executive issuance to hasten it or if Congress itself fails to approve it,” said Mr. Dureza.

In that Monday meeting, Mr. Duterte assured the group, headed by chair Murad Ibrahim, that he “would push for an early passage of the law for the Bangsamoro ahead of the shift to federalism.” — Carmelito Q. Francisco

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