P-noy sets July 16 special holiday in CAR: Cordi execs press regional autonomy

BAGUIO CITY – President Aquino has declared July 16 a special non-working holiday in the Cordillera even as its officials are pushing to make the region attain an autonomous setup from its present administrative.

Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr., with the President’s authority, issued Proclamation 391 declaring the special non-working holiday in lieu of the July 15 Foundation Day of CAR, which falls today.

CAR was established by virtue of Executive Order 220 issued by Aquino’s late mother, former President Corazon Aquino, on July 15, 1987.

Officials of the administrative region which covers Mt. Province, Benguet, Kalinga, Apayao, Ifugao and Abra in moves to make the region autonomous, have completed a “unity relay” yesterday wherein a “unity gong” was passed from one province to another.

The gong, from Apayao delegates, gave the gong to regional officials at Lamtang, Irisan in Baguio, considered the last leg of the process.

Cordillera officials said they were in support of the Senate and Lower House bills which proposed an autonomous region for the Cordillera.

 The thrust for autonomy, they said, was based on the reality as documented by anthropologists and historians Igorots have been in the Cordillera mountains with their own cultural laws and political divisions 3,000 years ago and with this, their culture must be preserved and they must attain self-governance.

In retrospect, reports have it that the Spaniards were able to reach the Cordillera via Ilocos and saw the distinct culture of the Igorots.

In the late 1590s, the Spaniards established the encomienda (district) of El Abra de Vigan (Opening of Vigan) under the comandancia politico-militar (province) of Ilocos.

They established missions in Bangued and started spreading Catholicism in the area.

In 1620, drawn by the fabled golds of the Igorots, the Spaniards explored Benguet reaching as far as La Trinidad. In 1663, the Spaniards marched to Kayan in Mountain Province.

But the colonizers did not stay long in the region.

The Spaniards' attempt to conquer the Igorots intensified again in the 19th century. They established the comandancia of Kiangan in Ifugao in 1841 and of Abra in 1846 separating it from Ilocos Sur (which became a separate province from Ilocos Norte in 1818).

New districts were also created in 1846, Amburayan (covering parts of Ilocos Sur and Apayao), Lepanto (encompassing parts of Mountain Province) and Benguet (which was placed under La Union comandancia and contains La Trinidad Valley and adjacent areas).

In 1847, the Tiagan comandancia was created which include the boundaries of present day Abra, Ilocos Sur, and Mountain Province.

The district of Lepanto which covered the area from Mainit to Banaue became a province in 1852. Benguet, made up of a stretch from Buguias to Itogon, followed suit in 1854 .

In 1859, the comandancias of Magaogao in Kalinga and Bontoc in Mountain Province were created. The Saltancommandancy (1859) covered the area from Pinukpuk to Tinglayan.

In 1889, the Spaniards changed Saltan to Itawes comandancia which ruled Conner, Tabuk and Paracelis. They also re-established the comandancia of Kiangan which took Banaue from the Bontoc comandancia and covers the whole Ifugao area. Bontoc, in return, got Lubuagan, Tanudan and Tinglayan.

In 1891, before the century ends and so is their domination in the Philippines, the Spaniards created the provinces of Kayapa from the boundaries of Benguet, Ifugao and Nueva Vizcaya and by elevating Amburayan from being a district.

Just like their earlier expeditions in the Cordillera, the later efforts of the Spaniards to dominate the highlanders were short-lived and made a very little impact. For all those years the colonizers subjugated most of the country, the Igorots lived free.

Within a short span of time, the Americans were able to penetrate the whole of Cordillera. And in more than four decades of ruling the country, they open the area for mining explorations and the Igorot culture to world scrutiny.

The Americans started some political re-organization as soon as they took over. In June 1901, they created Amburayan Province which occupies vast part of the Mountain Province today. Then in 1902, they established the Lepanto-Bontoc Province.

In 1905, Abra was annexed to the bigger Ilocos Sur.

On August 18, 1908, through Act No. 1876, the sub-province of Apayao (which was then part of Cagayan), and the provinces of Benguet, Amburayan, Lepanto-Bontoc, Kiangan (Ifugao) and Itawes (Kalinga) were solidified under the newly created Mountain Province.

One act during the American colonization that made the biggest impact in the Cordillera was the declaration of Baguio as a chartered city on September 1, 1909. The city was envisioned to be a health resort to American soldiers and civilian employees and resting place from the sweltering heat of the lowland. But the creation of

good roads leading to the city also made way for the mining boom in the region.

In March 1917, Act No. 2683 was promulgated re-creating the province of Abra and separating it from Ilocos Sur.

The last re-organization conducted by the Americans took place in 1920. The western border of the Mountain Province was pushed eastward. In effect, the entire subprovince of Amburayan and Lepanto were dissolved.

The Amburayan towns and villages were transferred to the provinces of Ilocos Sur and La Union while Lepanto areas were integrated to the sub-provinces of Benguet and Bontoc and to Ilocos Sur.

The boundary re-creation also led to the cessation of some Benguet towns to Ilocos Sur and La Union.

The political division in Cordillera as left by the Americans remained the same for 45 years.

Change took place only when a Republic Act 4695 was passed in June 18, 1966 dividing the old Mountain Province into four - Mountain Province, Benguet, Ifugao, and the merged Kalinga-Apayao.

In 1972, under President Marcos' Integrated Reorganization Plan, Kalinga-Apayao and Ifugao is placed in Cagayan Valley Region (Region 2) with Nueva Vizcaya, Cagayan, Isabela, Quirino and Batanes while Mountain Province, Benguet and Abra were fused with Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, Pangasinan and La Union to form the Ilocos Region (Region 1). Several times, many Cordillerans requested the merging of the old Mountain Province into one region but were denied.

The clamor to have a separate region for the Cordillera was granted in 1987 when Pres. Cory Aquino signed EO No. 220. The order joined the provinces of Abra, Benguet, Ifugao, Kalinga-Apayao, Mountain Province and the chartered city of Baguio into the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR). EO No. 220 was supposed to facilitate the creation of an autonomous region in the Cordillera, however, subsequent bills passed by Philippine Congress were rejected in plebiscites. In effect, Cordillera remains an administrative region as to this day. (Click here to read more about the creation of CAR.)

On February 14, 1995, through RA No. 7878, Apayao and Kalinga were made separate provinces increasing the number of CAR composite provinces to six.

On June 18, 1966, Republic Act No. 4695^[2] was enacted to split Mountain Province into four separate and independent provinces of Mountain Province, Benguet, Ifugao and Kalinga-Apayao.

Prior to the formal creation of Cordillera Administrative Region, as a consequence of the constitutional mandate under the 1987 Philippine Constitution, the former four provinces was loosely under Cagayan Valley Region while the fifth province Abra was grouped under Ilocos Region.

On July 15, 1987, President Corazon C. Aquino issued Executive Order No. 220 which created the Cordillera Administrative Region, that included Mountain Province, Benguet, Ifugao, Kalinga-Apayao and annexed the province of Abra as part of the Cordillera Administrative Region, giving the region formal autonomy as part of her political compromise to the Cordillera People's Liberation Army, a rebel group operating in the mountain region.

On February 14, 1995, Kalinga-Apayao, one of the five provinces of the region was split into two separate and independent provinces of Apayao and Kalinga with the enactment of Republic Act No. 7878^[3].

Several attempts at legalizing autonomy in the Cordillera region have failed in two separate plebiscites.

An affirmative vote for the law on regional autonomy is a precondition by the 1987 Philippine Constitution to give the region autonomy in self-governance much like theAutonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao in southern Philippines.

The first law Republic Act No. 6766, took effect on October 23, 1989 but failed to muster a majority vote in the plebiscite on January 30, 1990^[4]. The second law, Republic Act No. 8438 passed by Congress of the Philippines on December 22, 1997, also failed to pass the approval of the Cordillera peoples in a region-wide referendum on March 7, 1998.

At present, a third organic act of the Cordillera is in the offing supported by the Cordillera Regional Development Council.