CPLA, execs commemorate Mount Data peace accord

By Angel Baybay

BAUKO, Mountain Province – More than just a gathering of former red fighters to memorialize the 25th year of the Mount Data peace accord, the Sept. 13 silver anniversary here turned out to be a show of force drawing together the biggest star studded crowd in the Cordillera People’s Liberation Army’s history.

On hand to commemorate the occasion were CPLA members and Cordillera Bodong Administration officials who compose the political arm of the armed group which more than 25 years ago were members of the Lumbaya Company, an elite NPA unit operating in the Cordillera under the leadership the late ConradoBalweg.

CPLA chairman ArsenioHumiding, said the number of participants, estimated to be more or less five hundred, could readily prove which among the different CPLA factions has the legitimate claim over the organization and dispel suspicions that their group is membered by recruits of questionable character.

Among those in attendance were known former NPA personalities and individuals.

Also gracing the affair were political leaders led by Mountain Province governor Leonard Mayaen, Bontoc Mayor PascualSacgaca, Sadanga Mayor GabinoGanggangan, Paracelis mayor AvelinoAmangyen, Conner mayor Leonard Dangoy, Pudtol mayor BataraLaoat, and Luna mayor Betty Verzola who enlisted their support to the CPLA’s agenda for peace and development.

Also seen in the crowd were former Sagada mayor Tomas Killip and OPPAP representative Nanette Quilenderino.

In his welcome speech, Mayaen assured his unconditional support to the programs of the CPLA as he urged them to find other ways by which the group could be of help to the communities.

The CPLA was formed in April 7, 1986 when ConradoBalweg announced his group’s split from the communist New People’s Army. He later on accepted the offer of then President Corazon Aquino for peace talks which resulted to the historic exchange of Sipat on September 13, 1986 at the Mount Data Hotel. As a gesture of peace, Balweg handed to Aquino a shield, spear, head ax, and a bolo while the president gave an armalite rifle, rosary, and a bible.

Differences among the CPLA leaders however divided their ranks that slowed down their efforts to implement the peace and development agenda as spelled out in the peace accord. Except for the issuance of EO 220 establishing the Cordillera Administrative Region and the enactment of the IPRA Law, many CPLA members feel that the government failed to deliver what has been agreed.

More than two years ago, the CPLA asked for a joint review of the peace was accord but was snubbed by the national government. They were relieved however with the victory of Benigno Aquino with the thought that he will fulfill what was started by his late mother.

True enough, a ten month consultation and meetings between the government and CPLA officials bore fruit with the signing of an agreement for the realization of the Mount Data accord. In essence, the agreement shall allow failures and discontent to be left behind and ushers in a beginning of a new era of harmonious co-existence and collaboration that will hasten development in the region. In the spirit of peace, the agreement shall cause the transformation of the CPLA as an armed group into a socio-economic force.

The agreement also provides livelihood program for CPLA members, development packages for CPLA controlled areas, and the documentation of the CPLA in its struggle for self-determination.