BONTOC, Mountain Province – The Regional Development Council (RDC) in the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) here passed a resolution thanking President Arroyo for infusing a huge budget in the region over the past nine years of her presidency which greatly contributed in spurring economic development, especially in remote areas that were not reached by good roads.

Based on RDC-CAR records, it was during the Arroyo administration that the annual budget allocation for the region increased from P12 billion in 2003 to a whooping P16.9 billion this year.

In 2001, President Arroyo issued Executive Order No. 30 which created the RDC-CAR that eventually filled up the vacuum left by the deactivation of the three controversial regional bodies, the Cordillera Executive Board (CEB), Cordillera Regional Assembly (CRA), and the Cordillera Bodong Administration (CBAd), purposely to conduct coordination with the Palace on pressing regional concerns.

Supposedly, the three abolished transition bodies as embodied under Executive Order (EO) 220 were to lay the foundation for the establishment of an autonomous region in the Cordillera pursuant to the provisions of the 1987 Constitution.

Aside from pouring in P5.2 billion for the rehabilitation of the Halsema Highway and the Bontoc-Tabuk-Tuguegarao Road, the RDC-CAR revealed that President Arroyo also was instrumental in allocating a total of P48 million since 2006 in order to jumpstart the renewed quest for self-governance, a long overdue dream of Cordillerans.

Furthermore, the President also gave special attention for the rehabilitation of the damaged portions of the world famous Ifugao rice terraces, which she and the First Family visits during the Holy Week and Christmas breaks in Baguio City, and the rehabilitation of numerous provincial roads and bridges in the different provinces.

At the same time, the RDC-CAR claimed that the President also worked out the establishment of multi-million-peso post-harvest facilities in agricultural areas in the region in order to help farmers cope up with the effects of globalization, allowing their produce to be able to compete in the international market.