ARMM official to speak in Cordillera autonomy forum

by Lito Dar

Baguio City (25 July) — This month of July, Cordillera is celebrating its 22nd founding anniversary with the theme, “Cordillera at 22, Rising to the Challenges of Regional Development and Autonomy.” In line with the celebration, an Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) official was invited to be a resource speaker for a scheduled autonomy forum.

Through the Regional Development Council Sectoral Committee on Economic Development, the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR-CAR) was tasked to invite a resource speaker from ARMM. ARMM Deputy Executive Secretary Atty Ishak Mastura will be the guest speaker of an autonomy forum, entitled “The ARMM experience”, 1:00pm of July 29.

According to DAR Regional Director Renato Navata, as part of the RDC’s Information Education and Communication (IEC) campaign on its renewed pursuit of autonomy, a resource speaker from ARMM was invited so that we may directly learn about the experiences of ARMM on autonomy.

“In the spirit of learning, we could hear (on hand) about the experiences of our Muslim brothers, with regards to running an autonomous region, so that in the end we may learn from their experiences and decide which (of their experiences) we should follow or not,” Navata said adding that in CAR’s renewed pursuit for autonomy, comparison with ARMM cannot be avoided.

Aside from RDC members, various church/religious groups, members of the academe, private sector representatives, provincial/municipal local government units, student council members and former members of the defunct Cordillera bodies are also invited. (PIA)