TABUK CITY, Kalinga — Two Cordilleran members of the consultative committee formed recently by President Rodrigo Duterte to review the 1987 Constitution favor federalism.
Duterte appointed last January 23 former University of Baguio president Virgilio Bautista and former Kalinga representative, lawyer Laurence Wacnang to the committee he created in December 2016 through Executive Order No. 10.
In an interview with Philippine News Agency (PNA) in Baguio, Bautista said he was for federalism, considering that it was what they had been advocating for – the decentralization of the Cordillera through a regional autonomy.
“We hope we can come up with a Filipino model of federalism, one which is more applicable to us as a nation,” he said.
For Wacnang, decentralization is what the people of Cordillera have been yearning for.
“This is a golden opportunity that we are given the chance to be part of this endeavor, where we will be given the chance to bring forth the sentiments and grievance of the Cordillera,” he told PNA in a separate interview in Tabuk.
Bautista is the son of University of Baguio founder Fernando Bautista, who had served as a constitutional commissioner for the 1972 Constitution.
Dr. Gil Bautista, as the younger Bautista is more popularly called, also served as a member of the Cordillera Regional Development Council (RDC) under former president and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. He is also a National Volunteer awardee.
Meanwhile, Wacnang was the first governor of the province of Kalinga after the former town was separated from the province of Apayao 23 years ago.
As former Kalinga representative, Wacnang started the Kalinga Bodong Council, which was responsible for the adaptation of the traditional practices of the province in settling disputes and in preventing such rows from escalating into tribal wars.
Bautista and Wacnang were among the less than 10 names submitted by the Cordillera RDC to the Office of the President during the Cordillera leaders’ visit to President Duterte in July 2017.
Named in the Constitutional Consultative Committee are Reynato Puno as chairman, Aquilino “Nene” Pimentel Jr., Randolph Climaco Parcasio, Antonio Arellano, Susan Ubalde-Ordinario, Arthur Aguilar, Reuben Canoy, Roan Libarios, Ali Pangalian Balindong, Edmund Soriano Tayao, Eddie Mapag Alih, Bienvenido Reyes, Julio Cabral Teehankee, Antonio Nachura Jr, Rodolfo Dia Robles, Ranhilio Aquino, and Victor de la Serna as members. (Liza Agoot and Jesse Maguiya/PNA)
