President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. on Friday said he will study the calls for local government autonomy of the Cordillera region.

“Titingnan natin, pag aaralan natin nang mabuti (We will see, we will study that further),” Marcos said during his visit to the Apayao, Cordillera Administrative Region as he led the distribution of Presidential assistance to farmers and fisherfolk in the area. 

In reference to House Bill (HB) 3627 pushing for Cordillera’s autonomy, Marcos cited the need to replicate the process of forming the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).

Marcos said the proposal may lead to legal challenges but thought the Constitution would allow it. 

“There is a constitutional question in this. Because the 1987 Constitution allows the creation of two autonomous regions, the autonomous region… Kaya nabuhay ang ARMM noon na naging BARMM (That’s why the ARMM was revived into BARMM),” he said. 

Marcos noted how the Cordillera region had previously not received enough votes to be granted autonomy in the 1990 and 1998 plebiscites.

“Ngayon, ang legal question is kung pwede bang balikan o sinabi ba ng Constitution, minsanan lang iyan (Now, the legal question is whether it is possible to go back or did the Constitution say, or it would only one time),” he said. 

HB 3627 is currently pending in Congress.