What a price to pay

LETTERS FROM THE AGNO

March Fianza

BAGUIO CITY -- Next Friday, the 13th of September will be the anniversary of a still ambiguous peace accord that took place at the Mount Data hotel in Bauko, Mtn. Province 33 years ago between Tita Cory’s revolutionary government and the scandalous and now defunct Cordillera Peoples Liberation Army (CPLA)

In 1986, the revolutionary government under Cory Aquino, her soldiers and the CPLA that was created by Mailed Molina, priest-turned-rebels Bruno Ortega and Conrado Balweg a.k.a. “Ka Ambo” agreed to stop shooting each other.

Prior to the agreement on September 13, 1986 that was loosely called “sipat”, the Lumbaya Company of Molina and Balweg along with 129 of their foot soldiers broke away from the Communist Party of the Philippines – National Democratic Front – New People’s Army.

The hazy deal is practically relative to the process leading to a “bodong” or peace agreement that is observed in Kalinga, Abra and parts of Mountain Province, and closely similar to other alternative systems of conflict resolution such as the “pechen”.

The Cory – CPLA “sipat” was completed after the “allasiw”, a customary practice of exchanging tokens performed between then President Cory who received an Igorot spear and shield from Ka Ambo and Ama Yag-ao.

In turn, Cory Aquino, along with Gen. Fidel V. Ramos who was then Philippine Constabulary chief, and Senator Juan Ponce Enrile gave Ka Ambo an M-16 Armalite Rifle, a rosary to Ama Yag-ao.

Cordillera Bodong Association representatives Lourdes Limmayog was given a Bible which is now with his son Atty. Jose A. Limmayog Jr, former National Bureau of Investigation Director, former mayor of Sadanga, Mtn. Province.

Tokens were exchanged to signify friendship between the Cory government and the CPLA. The agreement between the two parties has been called the 1986 Mount Data Peace Accord.

 The Mt. Data Peace Accord resulted to the issuance of EO 220 by Tita Cory on July 15, 1987. The order eventually created the Cordillera Administrative Region consisting of the provinces of Abra, Kalinga-Apayao, Mtn. Province, Ifugao, Benguet and Baguio City.

In 2010, President Noynoy Aquino thru the Office of the Presidential Assistant for Peace Process (OPAPP) used the Mt. Data Peace Accord as the main reason to open a series of dialogues that led to the wish of many members of the CBA-CPLA for a completion of ceasefire.

The series of dialogues resulted to the signing of a MOA in 2011 by CPLA representatives, the DILG and OPAPP officials entitled “Final Disposition of Arms and Forces of the CBA-CPLA and its Transformation into a Potent Socio-economic Unarmed Force”.

The MOA was actually a closure agreement and culmination of the 1986 Mt. Data “sipat” that had five other components aimed at pursuing lasting peace in the Cordillera and hasten the progress and development in the region.

The components included the disposition of arms by the CPLA and integration into the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), employment as forest guards of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), and livelihood programs.

Integration of some 1,200 CPLA members as officers and enlisted personnel in the AFP was already initiated earlier on August 3, 2001 under Administrative Order 18 issued by President Arroyo.

The 2011 MOA also included a component for economic reintegration where CPLA members were given assistance in securing employment and livelihood projects as a step towards disarmament.

As of 2015, the CPLA turned in around 337 firearms to the custody of the Police Regional Office at Camp Dangwa, while all 27 inventoried explosives were detonated.

The OPAPP further reported that former CPLA members organized into people’s organizations and around 168 profiled CPLA members or their next of kin were integrated to the AFP, while 511 more were employed by DENR as forest guards.

President Noynoy’s administration also promised projects for peace and development in 57 areas in the region identified by the CBA-CPLA and in barangays and municipalities where the CBA-CPLA have established their presence.

Accordingly, more than P220 million was allocated for the implementation of 81 community development infrastructure projects that were fully completed in the six provinces, even while the livelihood component for 408 beneficiaries never materialized.

But eight years later, despite the good news and the rosy pictures presented by Malacanang’s promoters, independent peace advocates say the “allasiw” performed by Tita Cory and Balweg did not end armed struggle in the Cordillera.

From September of 1986 up to this time, there have been hundreds, maybe thousands of reported and unreported armed encounters between the NPA and government troopers.

Despite billions of government money poured in communities in the name of peace and progress after the Mount Data Peace Accord, a pointless armed conflict continues to kill innocent civilians, rebels, policemen and government soldiers. What a price to pay.