Cordillera Day once more

EDITORIAL

This coming July 15 will be celebrated as Cordillera Day. But Cordillerans celebrate two Cordillera Day events—in April and July—to remember two significant events in the region’s history. The April 24 celebration, from 1981 to 1984, was known as the “Macliing Memorials,” according to the website of the Cordillera Peoples Alliance (CPA).
    This was held to honor Macliing Dulag, a Kalinga elder who was murdered by government soldiers on April 24, 1980. Macliing led opposition to the World Bank-funded Chico Dam project that would have displaced indigenous peoples.

The CPA said it observed the annual commemoration and celebration of Cordillera Day since 1985 by tackling regional issues confronting indigenous peoples of the region.

The July 15 celebration of Cordillera Day, however, was initiated by the government to commemorate the creation of the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) in 1987 through Executive Order No. 220 signed by then President Corazon Aquino.

The region’s creation was a product of a 1986 sipat (peace pact) in Mt. Data between the government and the Cordillera People’s Liberation Army, a militia led by rebel priest Conrado Balweg after his group split from the communist New People’s Army.

The CAR was tasked with preparing the region for self-determination, but in 1990 and 1998, residents did not ratify two laws creating the autonomous government.

Only Ifugao voted yes in the 1990 plebiscite.  In the second plebiscite in 1998, only Apayao voted yes.

Officials are crafting a third autonomy law for the Cordillera which is composed of the provinces of Benguet, Ifugao, Mountain Province, Abra, Kalinga and Apayao, and Baguio City.

House Bill 7778 is the third proposed law filed by Benguet Caretaker Rep. Eric Yap of the ACT-CIS Partylist to establish autonomy for the Cordillera in the 18th Congress alongside House Bill  5687 filed by all Cordillera lawmakers in 2019  as well as Senate Bill 1232 filed by Juan Miguel Zubiri.

Whether Cordillera autonomy would be attained in the near future remains to be seen. But in the end, it would still be Cordillerans who will decide in a plebiscite.