Self-rule Goal Not Yet Lost on Cordillera Folk

INQUIRER NORTHERN LUZON Inquirer Northern Luzon : Elusive Cordillera autonomy Self-rule goal not yet lost on the people

By Maurice Malanes Inquirer

Posted date: September 19, 2007

LA TRINIDAD, Benguet – They did not beat gongs and dance the tadek on Sept. 13 when they commemorated the 21st anniversary of the first peace agreement in the country signed between an armed group and the government under then President Corazon Aquino. Instead, surviving leaders and members of the Cordillera People’s Liberation Army (CPLA) and the Cordillera Bodong Administration (CBA) sat down with government officials in a “peace and development forum” and reflected on the ultimate aim of what is now known as the Mt. Data Peace Accord of 1986. That aim was regional autonomy. Although it remains a dream, it has become the cause of those who pushed for the accord. They still consider autonomy or self-rule, especially in terms of managing and using the region’s land and resources, as the path to peace and development that can check a long history of neglect. That dream was the desire of the late CPLA chief, Fr. Conrado Balweg, and of his followers when they forged the pact with Aquino. At that time, the Aquino administration, which promised “democratic space” after strongman Ferdinand Marcos was ousted in a civilian-backed military revolt in February 1986, provided an auspicious opportunity for peace making. Talking peace During the signing of the accord in Mt. Data in Bauko, Mt. Province, “we, in a way, taught the national government how to talk peace,” Gabino Ganggangan, CBA secretary general, told the well-attended forum in La Trinidad, Benguet. “Former President Fidel Ramos himself acknowledged that the government learned a lot from the Cordillera’s peace initiative,” said Ganggangan. Unlike other armed groups, the CPLA immediately made peace with the government after it was formed in 1986, when its pioneers led by Balweg broke up with comrades in the New People’s Army due to political and ideological differences. “To set the record straight, those of us who joined the NPA [during Marcos’ martial law regime] did not fight for communism. We fought mainly for our ancestral lands and resources,” Ganggangan said. He cited how under Marcos, wide swaths of forest and rice lands in Abra, Mt. Province, Kalinga and Apayao were threatened by Cellophil Resources Corp., a paper mill owned by a Marcos crony, and by the planned series of World Bank-funded dams in the Chico River. Through Marcos’ regionalization law in 1972, the provinces of what is now the Cordillera were politically divided. Benguet, Mt. Province and Abra became part of Region 1 (Ilocos) and Ifugao, Kalinga and Apayao belonged to Region 2 (Cagayan Valley). This setup, according to Ganggangan, was aimed at “dismembering” the Cordillera, which was regarded as a vital resource base for the national government. After the separation of the provinces, Marcos’ controversial development programs followed and pushed the likes of Balweg to join the NPA. The division of the Cordillera and Marcos’ “development” programs led to the “one region, one people” battle cry of Balweg and other Igorot activists. “This battle cry was the seed of what is now called Kaigorotan consciousness and the dream for regional autonomy,” said Ganggangan. The desire soon found its way into the peace agreement that Balweg signed with Aquino. To fulfill her pledge to give flesh to the accord, Aquino signed Executive Order No. 220 on July 15, 1987, which gave birth to the Cordillera Administrative Region. The CAR was established in preparation for its autonomous status. Unfortunately, the Cordillera electorate rejected two proposed autonomy laws in two plebiscites—on Jan. 30, 1990 and on March 7, 1998. But advocates, including Balweg’s followers and those in government, maintain that the rejection of the proposed laws did not mean the death of autonomy itself. Juan Ngalob, National Economic and Development Authority regional director, cited lack of information—if not misinformation—for the losses. Kabayan (Benguet) Mayor Ernesto Matuday, who joined the peace and development forum in La Trinidad, Benguet, agreed. During the past campaigns before the plebiscites, “I heard that some people came over to my town and butchered a pig but they never informed us about the benefits of regional autonomy,” said Matuday. “Another reason [for the rejection] was public distrust of some politicians who were already positioning themselves if the autonomous region was created,” said Ngalob, chair of the Regional Development Council (RDC) which is now preparing the ground for another campaign. Actually just a few steps away, autonomy can still be achieved through a “more scientific approach,” Ngalob said. He cited a tedious poll survey which the RDC would undertake to determine the reasons the electorates had voted against autonomy. Campaign materials will be prepared based on the survey results, he said. “Let us take our steps slowly but surely,” said Ngalob. “If the people of Quebec (in Canada) are still not giving up hope in their cause for independence (which began shortly after World War II), why should we easily give up our dream for autonomy after 21 years?”