Cordillera Board Coalition V COA

Cordillera Board Coalition v.
Commission on Audit
G.R. No. 79956; January 29, 1990; Cortes, J.
Digest prepared by Carlo Roman
I. Facts
- The subject consolidated petitions assail the constitutionality of Executive Order No. 220 (dated July 15, 1987),
which created the Cordillera Administrative Region (“CAR”), on the primary ground that it pre-empts the
enactment of an organic act by Congress and the creation of an autonomous region in the Cordilleras, which
should be conditional on approval by plebiscite.
II. Brief History of EO 220

- In April 1986, Fr. Conrado M. Balweg, SVD broke off on ideological grounds from the CPP and NPA, forming the
Cordillera Peoples Liberation Army (“CPLA”). After Pres. Corazon Aquino was installed into office by People
Power, she advocated a policy of national reconciliation; in line with this, Aquino flew to Mt. Data in the
Mountain Province to initiate peace dialogue with the CPLA. A ceasefire agreement was reached; the Cordillera
people were not to undertake their demands through armed struggle but through political negotiations.
- On March 27, 1987, Ambassador Pelaez (acting as Chief Negotiator of the Government) signed with Fr. Balweg a
joint agreement, stating that the two sides would work together in drafting an Executive Order that will create a
preparatory body which will perform policy-making and administrative functions in the region. The consultations
and studies are to lead to a draft organic act for the Cordilleras.
- Pursuant to the said joint agreement, EO 220 was drafted and eventually signed into law on July 15, 1987. EO
220 created the CAR, which covers the provinces of Abra, Benguet, Ifugao, Kalinga-Apayao, Mountain Province,
and the City of Baguio.
 According to EO 220, the CAR was created to accelerate economic and social growth and to prepare for
the establishment of the autonomous region in the Cordilleras. Its main function would be to coordinate
the planning and implementation of programs and services in the region, as well as monitor the
implementation of ongoing national and local government projects therein.
 The CAR shall also have a Cordillera Regional Assembly (as policy-formulating body) and a Cordillera
Executive Board (as implementing arm). The CAR and the two said bodies shall exist until such time as
the autonomous regional government is established and organized.
- During the pendency of this case, RA No. 6766 (“An Act Providing for an Organic Act for the CAR”) was enacted
and signed into law. Said Act recognizes CAR and the offices created under EO 220, reinforcing its transitory
nature in Art. XXI1 thereof.
III. Issues
1. W/N the President, by issuing EO 220, has virtually pre-empted Congress in enacting an organic act and creating
an autonomous region in the Cordilleras. – NO.
2. W/N the CAR is a territorial and political subdivision. – NO.
3. TOPICAL ISSUE: W/N the creation of the CAR contravened the constitutional guarantee of local autonomy for
the provinces and city covered. – NO.
IV. Ratio
1. EO 220 does not create the autonomous region contemplated in the Constitution.
- Instead, EO 220 merely provides for transitory measures in anticipation of the enactment of an organic act and
the creation of said autonomous region. What it actually envisions is the consolidation and coordination of the
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“SEC. 3. The Cordillera Executive Board, the Cordillera Regional Assembly, as well as all offices and agencies created under Executive Order No.
220 shall cease to exist immediately upon the ratification of this Organic Act.
All funds, properties and assets of the Cordillera Executive Board and the Cordillera Regional Assembly shall automatically be transferred to the
Cordillera Autonomous Government.”
delivery of services of government departments and agencies in the region – this as a preparatory step to the
grant of autonomy to the Cordilleras.
- The complex procedure provided in the Constitution to create an autonomous region will undoubtedly take
time. As such, the President – in the exercise of legislative powers as the first Congress had not yet convened –
saw it fit to provide for some measures to address the urgent needs of the Cordilleras. The Court cannot inquire
into the wisdom of the measures taken by the President, but only whether or not these measures violate the
Constitution. In this case, they do not.
- EO 220 merely created a region for administrative purposes; the bodies created therein do not supplant existing
local government structures, nor are they autonomous government agencies. At this point, EO 220 had been in
force for over two years; despite EO 220, the autonomous region in the Cordilleras is still to be created. Clearly,
petitioners; fear that EO 220 was a shortcut for the creation of the autonomous region is totally unfounded.
2. EO 220 did not create a new territorial and political subdivision, nor did it merge existing ones into a larger
subdivision.
- The CAR does not have a separate juridical personality, unlike provinces, cities, and municipalities. Neither is it
vested with powers that are normally granted to public corporations, e.g. the power to sue and be sued, to own
and dispose of property, to create its own sources of revenue, etc.
- Given the control and supervision exercised by the President over the CAR and the offices created under EO 220,
along with the indispensable participation of line departments of the National Government, the CAR may be
considered a regional coordinating agency of the national government, similar to the regional development
councils which the President may create under the Constitution.
3. The constitutional guarantee of local autonomy in Art. X, Sec. 2 of the Constitution 2 refers to administrative
autonomy (i.e. the decentralization of government authority). On the other hand, the creation of autonomous
regions in Muslim Mindanao and the Cordilleras, also contained in the Constitution, refers to the grant of
political autonomy and not just administrative autonomy.
- As stated in Art. X, Sec. 183, this would entail an autonomous regional government with a basic structure
consisting of an executive department, legislative assembly, and special courts (with personal, family, and
property law jurisdiction) in each of the autonomous regions.
- The CAR is a mere transitory coordinating agency that prepares the Cordilleras for political autonomy. It fills in
the resulting gap in the process of transforming a group of adjacent territorial and political subdivisions already
enjoying administrative autonomy into an autonomous region vested with political autonomy.
V. Held
- The petitions are DISMISSED for lack of merit.
Concurring Opinion: Gutierrez, Jr., J.

- Gutierrez concurs in the result because with the enactment of RA No. 6658 and 6766, the questioned EO 220
has been superseded and the basic issues are now moot and academic. However, Gutierrez has grave doubts
about the authority of the President to create an office such as the CAR by mere executive fiat. Judging by the
functions of the CAR (which go beyond ordinary planning and preparation), the office has to be created by
statute. In fact, Congress had to pass RA 6658 for this purpose.
2
Section 2. The territorial and political subdivisions shall enjoy local autonomy.
3
Section 18. The Congress shall enact an organic act for each autonomous region with the assistance and participation of the regional consultative
commission composed of representatives appointed by the President from a list of nominees from multisectoral bodies. The organic act shall
define the basic structure of government for the region consisting of the executive department and legislative assembly, both of which shall be
elective and representative of the constituent political units. The organic acts shall likewise provide for special courts with personal, family, and
property law jurisdiction consistent with the provisions of this Constitution and national laws.
The creation of the autonomous region shall be effective when approved by majority of the votes cast by the constituent units in a plebiscite called
for the purpose, provided that only provinces, cities, and geographic areas voting favorably in such plebiscite shall be included in the autonomous
region.

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II. Brief History of EO 220

Concurring Opinion: Gutierrez, Jr., J.

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