LETTERS

They seem to think it is their regional autonomy?

I am sorry that I write to you as anonymous. I am an applicant to the Project Management Office (PMO) on Regional Autonomy of the Cordillera Regional Development Council. Revealing my identity might jeopardize my application. Yes, I am still hoping that I would receive a notice very soon asking me to report on a certain day and be part of the efforts to finally make the region autonomous. I hope that the next time I write, I can already reveal my identity – that is, if media people do not have the investigative power to find out more on what RDC officials would not like to talk about with them.

I felt so disappointed when I received from an insider that there is so much power play in the hiring of personnel for the PMO. No wonder that after we have undergone the application process with NEDA-CAR, we were made to repeat the same process with the RDC Co-Chairman Dr. Virgilio Bautista and again with the RDC Chairman Governor JocelBaac of Kalinga.

I had been waiting for almost a month. I was made to understand that the positions are needed immediately. What was the recent information I received? The RDC chairman and co-chairman accordingly talked together and made a partial list of people who will be hired.

Who are those they will accordingly hire? Some are not even among the applicants. One is accordingly with a government media institution. We might expect PMO people who do not report to office but report only to people who were responsible for their employment.

I am not sure if my name is in the list. But I am writing this because this speaks of the kind of leaders of a supposedly promising alternative for the Cordillera region.

Let me cite Section 21 of the proposed 3rd Organic Act for a Cordillera Autonomous Region:

“The Regional Government shall institute measures to promote courtesy, impartiality and integrity in public service and to eradicate nepotism, favoritism, graft and corruption, red tape and waste.”

Oh, my God! Why am I suddenly reminded of the Ampatuans in the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao?

Apo oopisyalesti RDC, panga-asiyo ta agaw-awistayo pay laengiti Regional Autonomy. Haantayongadadaelentinapintasngaarapa-apiti aramid ngaipak-pakitatayo.
Anonymous
Baguio City


Is SM a favored business in Baguio?

The TongtongantiUmili-Cordillera Peoples Alliance iterates its unity and solidarity with the people of Baguio in the call for a stop to the expansion of SM mega mall and the cutting (“earthballing”) of 182 mature trees for such to happen. To stand for these trees is to stand for Kafagway, for the old Baguio¬pine-clad and fog-hugged, a community of humble, talented and hardworking people, and ancestral land to the originalIbaloi families and clans that inhabited it.

Over the years, Baguio has changed in many, many ways. Development has taken its toll, to build it as it is now: an educational center, a business hub, a tourist destination, a nook for various artists, writers and musicians.

Progress is good, and let us be clear that TTU-CPA has always been for development, as long it favors the people of Baguio, not only a few big business and corrupt officials. It is at this juncture that we raise questions on SMDC, which rests on Luneta Hill and is hell-bent on expansion.

Is SM a favored business in Baguio? The property targeted for SM’s expansion was purchased by the SM Group as early as 1992, in a public bidding conducted by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).

Recent media reports even reveal that President Benigno Aquino III has approved the sale of Luneta Hill, which is government property, to the SM Group for only a quarter of its current value of P1.9 billion ¬clearly under-priced. This brings us to ask who were seated in the City Council at that time. Luneta Hill was expropriated by government for the City, and should be used only to the advantage of the people of Baguio.

As the seat of government in Baguio, the City Council is responsible for the progress of local and homegrown businesses. Bringing in SM may have given advantage to outside and larger capital to compete for the market nurtured by local homegrown businesses and greatly contributed to the care of the City. We would like to know how exactly does Baguio City benefit from SM in terms of taxes?Services?

Is SM gearing for all the business? SM’s proposed plan for a multi-level parking area seven storeys high suggests it may be gearing for grand expansion to monopolize the business. This also raises the question of the City’s carrying capacity to hold infrastructure and people in one area at a time, on Luneta Hill. If SM does proceed with its expansion, it will require more water, more energy, more land for its operations and also generate more garbage, more sewage. What impact does this have on the people of Baguio, long experiencing water crisis? Garbage crisis? Overflowing sewage?

These are basic questions to start with, if we wish to save the remaining frontiers of Baguio City from corporate greed. Somewhere, the City Council has an accountability that must be made known to Baguio’s citizenry.

We call on the people of Baguio to sustain their protest, and raise their unity for this cause. Remember our victories in earlier days against the casino, the Bulk Water Supply Project, the privatization of John Hay, the desecration of culture in the grand cañao, where our unity and credibility prevailed.
Tongtongan tiUmili –
Cordillera Peoples Alliance


Kaigorotan week

For the past years, we the indigenous youth in the Cordillera, particularly those residing in Baguio City and its neighboring provinces, are commemorating the Kaigorotan Youth Week (KYW) with full vigor and aspirations. Every year, various major indigenous youth organizations actively participate in different activities of KYW carrying different themes depicting the most significant issues of the youth that year.

In every celebration of KYW, we actively promote the rich cultural practices of the Cordillera provinces and likewise the various issues confronting our indigenous communities. More importantly, we renew our commitment and resolve in carrying out our responsibility in protecting our cultural heritage and continue the advancement of the rights of the indigenous peoples that our ancestors have started.

It should be noted that KYW offers an alternative venue of learning and sharing that after 19 years from its adoption by the City Council of Baguio, it marked significant contributions to the development of some of those who have been part of this event.

At present, we are still faced with lots of challenges that are common to the indigenous peoples of the Cordillera and worldwide. Such challenges include the continuous degradation of our environment resulting to climate crises and food insecurity, misrepresentation and lack of participation in important decision making and processes concerning the indigenous peoples, lack of proper recognition of our rights as indigenous peoples among others.

With this regards, we are conducting a series of events to further promote our indigenous culture.

Today (March 11), we will hold the annual quiz bee on Cordillera culture, a cultural showdown and search for Mr. and Mskaogorotan at the Malcolm Square in Baguio from 2 to 9 p.m. You and your organization are invited to be part of this celebration. Please kindly coordinate with us by texting 09396565831 or 09161692576 of the Dap-ayan ti Kultura iti Kordilyera.

BestangDekdeken