Cordillera Day: What went before?
>> Saturday, July 23, 2022
EDITORIAL
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 “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 the opposition to the World Bank-funded Chico Dam project that would have displaced indigenous peoples.
The CPA said it had led the annual commemoration and celebration of Cordillera Day since 1985. “This later evolved into a mass movement event, tackling regional issues confronting the indigenous peoples of the Cordillera,” it said.
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 under then President Corazon Aquino and the Cordillera People’s Liberation Army, a militia led by rebel priest Conrado Balweg.
The CAR was tasked with preparing the upland communities for self-determination, but in 1990 and 1998, the region’s leaders failed to convince residents to ratify two laws creating the autonomous government.
The Lower House, under the Duterte Administration, approved a third autonomy law. It would be an irony if the Cordillera would attain autonomy under the administration of President “Bongbong” Marcos. Cordillera constituents have to ratify a third organic act in a plebiscite.
The Cordillera Regional Council and its secretariat, the regional National Economic Development Authority are at present, the government proponents for regional autonomy.
The Cordillera is composed of the provinces of Benguet, Ifugao, Mountain Province, Abra, Kalinga, Apayao and Baguio City.
The April 24 celebration, from 1981 to 1984, was known as “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 the opposition to the World Bank-funded Chico Dam project that would have displaced indigenous peoples.
The CPA said it had led the annual commemoration and celebration of Cordillera Day since 1985. “This later evolved into a mass movement event, tackling regional issues confronting the indigenous peoples of the Cordillera,” it said.
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 under then President Corazon Aquino and the Cordillera People’s Liberation Army, a militia led by rebel priest Conrado Balweg.
The CAR was tasked with preparing the upland communities for self-determination, but in 1990 and 1998, the region’s leaders failed to convince residents to ratify two laws creating the autonomous government.
The Lower House, under the Duterte Administration, approved a third autonomy law. It would be an irony if the Cordillera would attain autonomy under the administration of President “Bongbong” Marcos. Cordillera constituents have to ratify a third organic act in a plebiscite.
The Cordillera Regional Council and its secretariat, the regional National Economic Development Authority are at present, the government proponents for regional autonomy.
The Cordillera is composed of the provinces of Benguet, Ifugao, Mountain Province, Abra, Kalinga, Apayao and Baguio City.
0 comments:
Post a Comment