BAGUIO CITY — President Aquino’s assumption to power has fanned new hopes for genuine regional autonomy in the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), the Regional Development Council (RDC) said Friday.

Despite suffering two major setbacks in the 1990s, the RDC said Aquino brings hope for the success of the renewed quest of regional autonomy which is one of the legacies of her mother, the late President Corazon C. Aquino.

As the region celebrates its 23rd founding anniversary on July 15, 2010, the RDC-CAR invited the new President as the guest of honor and speaker during the special program prepared to commemorate the historic event, which is one of the highlights of the Cordillera month celebration.

The theme of this year’s Cordillera month celebration is “CAR at 23: Celebrating the Richness of Heritage As We Move Towards Autonomy and Development.”

Juan Ngalob, regional director of the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) in the Cordillera and RDC-CAR acting chairman, said Cordillerans will be privileged to have the President as their special guest when they celebrate its founding anniversary considering that her mother was the one who initiated the creation of the Cordillera region.

At the same time, the RDC-CAR also submitted an official request to the Office of the President to declare July 15, 2010 as a special non-working holiday in the whole region so that the people will be able to internalize the importance of celebrating the creation of the region while pursuing the quest for the establishment of an autonomous region as enshrined in the 1987 Philippine Constitution.

On July 15, 1987, Ms. Aquino signed Executive order (EO) 220 creating the Cordillera Administrative Region which will be composed of the provinces of Abra, Benguet, Mountain province and Baguio City from the Ilocos Region and the provinces of Ifugao, Kalinga and Apayao from the Cagayan Valley.