Baguio Midland Courier Website

EDITORIAL

Nursing false hopes

For sheer persistency, the so-called ardent advocates of autonomy in this region deserve a high-five for continuing to nurse faint hopes that the tide of fortune would someday shift their way.

Unfortunately for them and fortunately for the majority, those advocating ardently for autonomy are insignificant in number, too few in fact to influence the outcome of a barangay election.

The city mayor himself who is one of the top advocates cannot expect to get support from the city council. The vice mayor has long made his stand that the city can stand by itself. The consensus in the city is that were the electorate to be asked to vote again for autonomy, the result would still be a resounding no as in the past two exercises.

There are no indications to show that Benguet, Abra, Mountain Province, and Kalinga would vote otherwise.

The oft-repeated explanation for the autonomy bid’s failure to gain mandate was “lack of understanding on the merits of autonomy by many sectors in the region.” Political bickering is also seen to have helped spoil the brew.

No one bothered to ask whether autonomy was an appropriate response to a concrete situation characterized by underdevelopment, poverty, unemployment, and in one province – the prevalence of warlords and the culture of violence. No one bothered to examine if the ground where the seed is to be sown is fertile.

No one bothered to examine if economic development or the strengthening of local government units are more in keeping with the needs of the socio-economic and political landscape.

It is also nursing false hopes to assume that the Manila government can cough up a staggering 10-year P75-billion subsidy for the proposed autonomous region. Considering the government’s inability to collect taxes, the most that this region would be expecting would come from appropriation by way of legislation and that is putting it mildly.

We submit that despite its shortcomings, the current government set-up that obtains in the region is good enough. What is probably needed is to strengthen the capabilities of LGUs and their abilities to provide basic services so as to make them more responsive to the needs of their constituents and to bring government closer to the people. We have the Local Government Code and a host of other wide-ranging laws to ensure responsible governance, holistic development and the rule of law.

Adding another layer of bureaucracy only serves to abet confusion, sow disunity, and muddle the situation.