Cordillera autonomy

HAPPY WEEKEND
Gina Dizon

After observance of World's Indigenous Peoples Day on August 9 and Cordillera Month (July) by the Cordillera Administrative Region, we are again reminded on the quest for regional autonomy among the indigenous peoples of the Cordillera generally referred to as Igorots.

Subjected to a plebiscite 19 years ago and having lost, elusive Cordillera autonomy is still as elusive as ever. Only 29% of respondents positively favor autonomy, says a survey conducted in 2008 by CAR's Regional Development Council.

And for the rest of thousands of Cordillerans with voting age, autonomy still sounds strange. As strange as a shooting star which disappears all too sudden. As strange as Jennifer Hewitt or the Prince of Wales.

As strange as Tobleron or Kenny Rogers to an elder in the dap-ay until you give or show him a roasted chicken straight from Kenny Rogers Roasters. It is as strange even as the golden kuhol introduced by Department of Agriculture who says the snail serves a multipurpose function so these were sown on rice fields, but practically grabbed space for rice plants to grow normally in some parts of the Cordillera as experienced by most farmers a decade ago.

What is wrong with this beautiful concept of being self determining like a matured, independent and empowered woman or man? Why can’t it get through and be accepted by the rest of the Cordillerans or the Igorots for that matter? Obviously, there must be really something wrong of why it is not that popular like Michael Jackson or Robin Padilla and Sharon Cuneta among Filipinos.

What does Michael Jackson and Robin Padilla have in common which makes them popular and liked by multitudes of people. Of course they are both guapo and both are celebrities. They identify with the common masa (people) and feel their sentiments. You can sense in the songs of Michael Jackson and for Robin, you can sense him identifying with u in his movies and the way he talks. While Jacko comes from humble beginnings, Robin da Idol goes along with people on the streets.

What do people like? Obviously, people like things and ideas and people which/who jibe with what they feel and need and relate with, on day to day life. People associate ideas to what they can grasp. Ay makan sa? Ay mabalin ma-i- tono? Ay tet-ewa’y toma sa? Ineee, kampot ubpay dis toma…etc… (Is that eaten? Can it be roasted? Is it truly a flea? Oooooh, that was one lie of a flea etc...)

A dream, we make autonomy land on earth concretely to the psyche of the practical Igorot so that autonomy plebiscite Part 3 will at least see better ratings. Best as how the best advocate and autonomy campaigner can explain what autonomy is, IF it is far from the psyche of the non-airhead Igorot, this beautiful ideal for autonomy will not see reality. You cannot ram down the throat, autonomy until it is digestible, eatable, edible, or guapo and irresistible.

So, ‘show me’ what it means. Show me the money, says Tom Cruise in Jerry Maguire. How much money and jobs can we get if we are autonomous? Can a son or daughter have better chances of being employed after graduation if we are autonomous? Shall there be increased daily wages to cope with rising costs of almost any commodity?

So we see what givens we have. Because we go autonomous and rely greatly on what we have, we ask what money potentials do we have? First of all, we have a very industrious, ingenious and ingenuous people who can make things happen. We have the mountains full of gold. Do we like these to be mined?

Can we turn these mountains into livelihood ventures if we are autonomous? (And by the way , how much are we getting or have taken from the Lepanto Mines through the years? As we watch Mankayan sink apparently because of the many underground mining which is happening, and sons and daughters from Mankayan are leaving their home sweet home out as migrant workers to wherever richer country there is, LCMC rakes in millions of money from those mountains of gold.)

We have nature and environs showing big potentials for ecotourism. Do we like these to be transformed into sources of livelihood? Can we make enough money to feed our family out of tourism from these towering or rolling mountains of Mt Kanip-aw or Mt Pulag?

How much can the government of the Republic of Philippine my Philippines help out in making industries happen for the Cordillera without asking for big cut in taxes? How much Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) and development funds can the national govt give while we are gaining a fully autonomous region, or give as part of its regular accountability to give in the very first place, the Cordillera being part of the country?

We have the mighty headwaters of Chico and Siffu Rivers, serving as sources of hydro-electrical energy for the National Power Corp. How much income are we getting while Napocor and the national government controls the proceeds? Are we really getting money from these powerful sources of energy? Do we have the enabling law to take our share? If so, are we getting our share?

We have a number of telecommunication relay stations in our localities. How much are we taking in terms of percentage shares? Or are they just there sitting on our land as big companies rake in money for those millions worth of texting and calls that we do?

How far can we control what we have at the moment? Can we control our own resources given that we have the Regalian Doctrine and national laws which dictate how much we can or cannot receive? Let us make this interplay of national laws and prospective autonomous laws very concretely clear to be understood and how much we are entitled so to know.

At the same time, we also deal with corrupt politicians who muddle the concept of what autonomy means, that they also need to get their corrupt tendencies off their system so that the rest of the people of the Cordillera will believe in what they are blabbering
about. Because as we see Ifugao which was optimistic at first turned negative on the second plebiscite. Why?

So I ask, what autonomous situations have we as Igorots exercised or can exercise in daily life, as individual persons and in cohorts or rather in partnership with another? When transportation costs go five pesos higher, do we see protesting commuters or do they just accept it as the will of the supernatural or whatever it is? Or do we just shrug our shoulders and do nothing about it while enjoying the ride anyway and pay whatever
amount it is?

How autonomous and assertive are we as individuals and as peoples in a wider community do in demanding for our rights and making a better place to live in? For sure, we know what our rights are. Unless we don’t, that is bad news indeed. How autonomous are we as individuals in the very first place? Or to use politically loaded words, “self determining” and “empowered”.

I guess there are better chances of Cordillera being autonomous if the autonomy information campaign will show what the Cordilleran can get out of being autonomous and how to reach there. With this basic info, we can be part of the “vision”, as we reflect also on how autonomous our individual and collective psyche is in the very first.

place. Then we can say, at least, we are ready for Autonomy Plebiscite Part 111. But of course there still other factors to consider like a culturally diverse Cordillera inhabited by ethnolinguistic groups with ethnocentric prejudices.