LECTURE TWO: A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE derstanding Regional Autonom) 1y in the Cordillera froma Historical Perspective! Maria Nela B. Florendo, Ph.D, Professor of History University of the Philippines Baguio For societies characterized by socio-economic and political heterogeneity, the issue of integration is unavoidable. Govemments and their constituents find it difficult to arrive at a consensus on the goals of integration and the mechanisms by which it should be achieved. Perhaps one of the sources of disagreement is the misperception that integration is synonymous with assimilation, a process aimed at creating uniform social structures for a heterogeneous Population. Viewed from a historical perspective, however, integration can be seen as a broad Process of defining the relationship of social groups, like ethnic groups, with one another to form. 4 unified structure, The form that integration can assume thus ranges fiom intergroup relations founded on common structures such as assimilation, to intergroup relations which allow for Pluralism and the preservation of group identities such as autonomy and models advocating separatism.” The Cordillera peoples’ views regarding autonomy can best be understood if seen in their historical context. Resistance is the dominant theme in Cordillera history. Minority resistance is a product of social processes. Articulations of resistance are shaped by transformations within the social order and, atthe same time, constitute responses to the social order. Integration policies, as regulative mechanisms, are simply translations of the social order. Resistance to integration policies is actually both a protest against the social onder and an attempt to reshape this order in accordance with a group’s worldview and goals. ee "This lecture is an abridged version ofan article tha ist appeared as Chapter ‘Three: “The Movetnent for ‘Regional Autonomy in the Cordilleras from a Historice Perspective", in Advancing Regional Autonomy paite Cordillera: A Source Book. Published by the Cordillera Studies Center (CSC), University of the Philippines Baguio, Baguio City through the assistance of the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES), Pasig, » Metro Manila on October 1994, pp: 30-48, John Farley, Majority-Minority Relasions (New Jetsey: Prentice Hall, Inc, 1982)OBJECTIVES: At the end of this lecture, you should be able to: 1. Che aracterize the relationship between the Cordillera peoples and the Spanish Colonizers from the late 1500's to the mid-1800's; Describe the strategy pursued by the American colonial government to ‘etfectively’ rule over the Cordillera peoples; Identify the policy of the Philippine government towards national cultural minorities since independence in 1946 to the mid-1970's Recount the significant events from the early 1970’s that led to the successful inclusion ‘of the provision in the 1987 Philippine constitution for the establishment of an autonomous region for the Cordillera. A. Defending Cordillera Indigenous Autonomy: A Historical Confirmation In Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas, published in 1609, Antonio de Morga noted: On the slopes of these mountains, in the interior, live many natives as ‘yet unsubdued, and indeed no entry has yet been made among them. They are ‘known as Yeolotes and they possess rich mines, many of which are of gold and Silver mixed. These they exploit but only to take as much as they need for their i wants. Early Spanish writes like Morga acknowledge the status of native Cordillerans as independent peoples. These writers also noted, however, that despite their apparent isolation the highlanders maintained active trade relations with lowland communities. Specifically, they traded gold: they do not refine the gold completely, nor bring it to eer ae © contain places in the Ylocos where they trade it for fe ants ane oer things which they lack. . The people of Ie melt he firing and preparation and rough them scsi throughout the land. Heer eeeeeee eee + qmoaio de Monga, Sucesoe dels iias Pups (Mesiea, \60P, wane. 18 (Cummins (Cambridge 0 ; University Press, 1971) “ thidThe relative autonomy of the Coniller peoples clearly took root, for even during the final century of the Spanish colonial period, these people were sill considered highly independent 1. Colonialism as a Historical Mediator and Transforming Element Teas been a common patter in the history of nations that prior to conquest, “tribal entities lived side by side as separate economies.’ Colonialism served as an instrument for the Sentalizaton of administration, and the colonial process served as a mediating and transforming clement in shaping the nature of intergroup relations within the context of a consolidated colonial polity.* As the colonial state undertook consolidation, land as a territorial and resource unit, and ‘© 2 culturl home base or basis of selfidentty, emerged as the central issue. Tribus independientes resisted the incoporation of their homelands in the territory of the colonial state.” This was Particularly true of the Cordillera Peoples. In the late 1500s, the Spanish conguistadores were already aware of the difficulties they Would encounter in trying to bring the Cordillera peoples under colonial control. ‘The recaleitrance of the Cordillera peoples actually contributed to conquistador eagemess in motivated Spanish efforts to conquer the ‘seion and its peoples. In justifying the wars they would wage on the Cordillera peoples, colonial officials wrote: ;-ethey have the almost unused gold mines there which could serve for the many necessities of Christendom, which she canno| r " support herself and which it now appears the King cannot succes “from Spain. And it mae that God created those mines of the leoron succor this whole land and not He for the evil use which these barbarians moe Of them...if war is not made SS Pros pus 4ndSanauilanKadirgamar eda), Exhmes, Press, 1989), p. 3, : (te Ethnciy “Ibid. Ibid ‘dent. Conflict, Crisis (Hongkong: ArenaB rant mens is discerned for their conversion and the salvation of Tmmediately after the foregoing justification was made, colonial state and church officials began contemplating possible means for bringing Cordilleran independence to an end. tm Apnl 1576, Juan de Morones became the first Spaniard to lead an expedition to the gold mines of the /gorrotes. His expedition was the fist to recond native resistance to conquistador cremvachments on Cordilleran territory. Other expeditions that followed met with a similar response and ended in futility.® Besides launching military expeditions, the colonial state issued ordinances proscribing Jowlander-highlander interaction. Colonial officials believed that the Punitive actions would eventually convince the infieles that they needed to descend to the lowlands in order to survive. As things tumed out. however, it was the lowlanders who were eventually driven to the highlands — where they could obtain some gold that they could use for meeting their handalas. or where they could find refuge as remontados. 2. Still Tribus Independientes by the End of Spanish Rule Those innocent boasts that 32,000 souls had been subjugated without firing a shot were pure illusions and nothing more. In reality, the Igorots remained as independent as before.'” This was how Fray Angel Perez of the Augustinian order assessed the conditions in the area after an attempted uprising in 1881 in Bontoc. To give emphasis to the status that Cordillerans retained throughout the period of Spanish colonial rule in the Philippines, the late William Henry Scott adopted the Spanish scription tribus independientes in referring to the Cordillera peoples. ‘A survey of historical chronicles and ethnographies from this period shows how the Cordillera peoples consistently defended their homelands from incursions. The said writings also shed light on the highlanders’ratiocinations conceming the effects of submitting to colonial rule. Accepting reduccion wo embrace la vida civil y politica Would have meant geographic : ment “ itis Possible to Make a Just War Against the Igorots” in Francisco Arolin. Notices of emi omas Press, 1988), p. 129-135 * tid.ry displacement, the abandonment of their institutions, and the disruption of their economic activities, They knew what would be imposed on them if they accepted the new social order ~ forced labor, vassalage, taxes. Colonial officials actually vacillated between a policy of annihilation and one of attraction. Which ever policy was enforced, the Cordillera peoples chose to remain steadfast to their autonomous status and to their commitment to the protection of their homebase. In his Noticias de los Ynfieles Ygorrotes enlo interior de la Ysla de Manila, Fray Franciscio Antolin of the Dominican order suecinetly described the conditions of the Cordillera peoples and their reactions to efforts geared towards their assimilation in the mainstream of the colonial order. Antolin summarized the reasons the highlanders had for choosing independence. First was the protection of their homelands as their own resource base: It does not seem that they try to buy rice, com, camotes or other necessities from the Christians, which is a sign that they have all they need of these. As a matter of fact, in some valleys and slopes their land is fertile, soft and porous, and can easily be worked with some wooden shovels without needing animals to plow it They find the hardness and the solidness of the land in the Christian lowlands strange, for the land in the lowlands is packed down with the pressure of the rains, the tread of the population and the vibration of the carts. It is a land, as the saying goes, worn out and baked by the lowland sun. Not so these valleys and woodlands of the pagan Filipinos...lt is to be concluded, therefore, that there is no lack of food or population." ‘Second was their preference for their own, indigenous ways: The fiestas of the Christians are not worth anything because it's all just a lot of noise-making... But the fiestas of our leaders are not like that; they are tasty and satisfying and do not have all that racket. They kill animals by the dozens and everybody drinks till he passes out, and so it goes for many days. Among you, anybody is mayor or headman, but our leaders are never changed.' Third, they were aware that assimilation in the colonial order meant submission to new policies. Fray Antolin summarized: Although the agriculture of the pagan Filipinos is most primitive, they do not have those duties sometimes enforced, which the Christians have, like * Antolin, p20 Ibid, p30.government s various, peel i hee messages, making roads, attending Church, and ‘GSK incompatible with working and cultivating their fields.” Fi ir i "ay Antolin noted how the highlanders Protected their mountain passes to prevent the entry of various epidemics from the lowlands access to thei “4 © their resouroes. They expressed opposition tothe contruction of road into thee mountains; they kept the location of their trails secret. They were anxious about the consequences of opening up the Cordillera; they knew that it would not only result in their fellow Cordillerans’ “surrendering to baptism” but would also lead to their virtual enslavement Though fragmented in response, the Cordillera peoples shared in common the defense of teritorial integrity. It was through the act of defending their homelands that their social existence was guaranteed and their status as naciones'* was preserved. To would be converts to Christianity, native religious practitioners would say these words: Ah, woe is me that you should desert me! How many years have I taken my pleasure with you? My desires have been nothing other than your health and life which I have preserved for so long a time! And now in the end, you desert ‘me just to follow and believe those with white teeth and long robes? I can no Jonger enjoy myself with you, I will therefore take to the heights to the more than seventy lofty mountains and from there I will be watching you, always mourning your departure." Such words often made catechumens reconsider their decision to convert. It was only during the final decades of their rule that the Spanish colonialists succeeded in directly imposing their policies on Cordillerans, and this was only in some parts of Bontoc and in those portions of Benguet where Spaniards and other foreign nationals had staked mining claims. From 1570 to the mid-1800s, the Cordillera peoples effectively thwarted incursions into their territories. On the lowlands that bordered these territories, Cordillerans also engaged in their own form of proselytization. This was aimed at curtailing colonial expansion towards the highlands. "Wid. . lacion de las Quatro Naciomes, Llameudas ‘s fanuel Caillo, Breve Relac Qua The tem naciones was tet Madd Imprenia del Conseje de Indias, 1756) lgorrotes,Tingganes, Aparier Ne yent and Progres of the Mision ofthe Holy Cros of Pani and Berard Yaar pecan, Cagayan and Pampangs”"n Philpiniana Sacra 13 (May-August 1978), tuy, in Between Pangasinan, 346— nt attempts on the part of the Spaniards to establish control One of the most signi ‘over the highland population was the establishment of comandancias politico-militares throughout the Cordillera. But even these comandancias failed to institute the reforms needed for effecting an assimilation of the Cordillera population in the colonial mainstream. The failure of the Spanish conquistadores was a victory for the Cordillera peoples. With aan inferior arsenal, but with the determination to defend their total existence ~ their territorial integrity, resources, and institutions ~ the Cordillera peoples remained tribus independientes, a status which made their region even more attractive to the next group of colonizers. B. Defending the Cordillera: Challenges to American Authority ‘Their defense of their autonomy eamed the Cordillera peoples the labels “tribal” and “wild”, It_was with labels like these that Cordillerans were distinguished from other, “domesticated”"” Filipinos who had been drawn into the centralized colonial polity. The peoples of the Cordillera were described in a U.S. War Department document as follows: A fine race are the Igorrotes, spread over the northern half of Luzon... Because of their high cheek bones, flat noses and thick lips, they would not however, by European or American standards, be considered good looking... Many expeditions have been made by the Spaniards against them but all have significantly failed. The Igorots obstinately refuse to be civilized.'* ‘The American administrators received an early admonition from U.S. President William McKinley regarding the way the highlanders should be treated. What McKinley had in mind for the “non-Christian tribes” of the Cordillera was a flexible policy similar to that which was then being applied to the North American Indians. Flexibility, however, was to be tempered with firmness: Such tribal governments should, however, be subjected to wise and firm regulation, and without undue or petty interference, constant and active effort "The U.S. Secretary of War, °*The Peoples of the Philippines,” 15 December 1901 "Ibid.goverment encouraged ethnographie studies, In 1908, the Philippine Commission formulated a major decision — the creation of an Igorot province divided into several subprovinees which corresponded to the different culture Zones. Act No. 1786, issued on 18 August 1908, created the Mountain Province, composed of the subprovinces of Benguet, Bontoc, Apayao, Ifugao, Kalinga, Lepanto, and Amburayan. Dean Bartlett articulated the Tationale for creating the Mountain Province, ie. the need to “safely remove" the “Wild tribes” fiom “the field of insular politics” and place them “under the control of the Philippine Commission.”2° The division of the Cordillera into culture zones made lasting impressions on the Peoples of the region about their ethnic affiliations. Studies began to focus on the task of differentiating among the various ethnolinguistic groups, especially in terms of their so-called levels of civilization, which on further analysis indicated the degree to which each group had been pacified. ‘Their staunch resistance to American intrusion eamed the Kalinga and the Apayao some notoriety. Contrary to the common impression given by some historiographers — that the American Period was characterized by acquiescence — resistance was, in fact, sustained. The Cordillera peoples” challenges to American authority came in different forms. First, there were out-migrations, confirmed in Otley Beyer's Poblacion de las Islas Filipinas en 1916. This was particularly true of Ifugao, Kalinga, and Apayao, which were in a state of flux. People in these areas fled their settlements to escape govemment taxation and the enforcement of the compulsory-school law. ° Second Commission," 7 April 1900, p11 ites hae asin ie ‘Mountain Province (Quezon City: New Day Publishers. 1983). Cited in Howard T. Fry, A Hi P52,A survey of reports which appeared in the Manila Times during the first decades of ‘American rule reveals that armed confrontations were a common occurrence and were sustained at least until 1915, especially in Ifugao, Kalinga, and Apayao, ‘The creation of the Philippine Constabulary and the decision to integrate native Cordillerans into its structure contributed greatly to the suppression of resistance, Applying the principle of divide et impera, the Americans pit communities against one another.?! Other manifestations of resistance continued to appear, however. Infrastructure projects still drew opposition from people who could foresce only negative consequences from colonial mn, the Americans had ‘govemment efforts to open roads into their areas, Because of this oppos to institute statute labor.”? People also remained resistant to formal education. ‘They felt that schools only drew them away from the fields which had provided them with sustenance through the years, They observed how the sophisticated skills acquired in schools seemed irrelevant to the unsophisticated social environment of the village, In reviewing the record of the American colonizer among the Cordillera peoples, the late William Henry Scott wamed: We are seeing quite the glowing view of the American occupation of the Philippines, while suffering almost total amnesia of what the actual details added up to.”* Undeniably, American policies created a greater impact on the indigenous peoples of the Cordillera than did the attempts of the Spanish conquistadores. By the second decade of American rule, the “germ of discontent” had already been “inoculated”, new needs and new levels of aspiration had been generated among Cordillerans. This led to more radical transformations of the region’s population. However, the subtler forms of resistance to colonial assimilation should not be disregarded. Armed hostilities between Americans and native Cordillerans had indeed come to ‘hall by 1915, but people continued to articulate disapproval of colonial policies through other means, Specifically the Americans took advantage of intcrtribal animosity as bass for pitting Iyorots agaist ey cs 56¢ Charles H. Brett,"A Missionary Sawmill,” The Spirit ofthe Missions 71 No. 10 (Oxtober 1906), p » William Henry Scot, “Star °urtain”™ vilises He “Star Spangled Curtain” in Angelo delos Reyes and Aloma de los Reyes (eds.), {g0rat: A People who Dally Touch the Earth and Sky (Baguio City: Cordillera Schools Group, 1986).lo For Stance, on 28 August 1933, the communities of Samoki and Bontoe petitioned the American govemor general to put a stop to mine exploration activities in their area, Six-hundred thumb marks were affixed to their Petition, The petitioners expressed: Moved by suckden surprise, with fear, and alarmed with thoughts of the fume saatruction of our towns and the perishing of the native Igorots of the towns of Bontoc and Samoki, we hereby petition his exce : ‘The petition enumerated twenty reasons for the communities” opposition to the opening oftmines in their area. It pointed out that mining would not only result in irreparable damage to resources, because of the migrant influy it would encounige, it would also cause disturbance and the physical dislocation of the population, ‘The petitioners asserted their claim to ancestral land! Instinctively, we are born to look afier the welfare of our children and the perpetuation of our tribe with its town, and we have not other ways or means of Supporting our children but to continue heiring the land that our forefathers had handed down 0 us... since time immemorial our great ancestors had been cultivating and improving the land, and by right this land was handed down to 4s as inheritors. Under the face of the law... we are the titular owners of the land, and, by common law, we have the right to claim all things valuable underneath the land.** There are many other documents that tell of the collective efforts people made against mining, but this petition is most worthy of note, as the native sentiment it gives expression to is very much alive. C. Historical Continuities ‘The label national cultural minorities superseded the category non-Christian tribes during the years which followed the Second World War. ‘On 22 June 1957, Republic Act No. 1888 was passed by the Philippine Senate and non National Integration (CND), which it House of Representatives. It created the Commi charged with the task of effecting in amore rapid and complete manner the economic, social, moral and political ‘advancements of the non-Christian Filipinos or national cultural minorities and 2 From the full text of the letter in William Dosser, “The Dosser Story” in The Mountaineer: * Ibidto render real, complete and permanent the integration of all said national cultural minorities into the body politic.” The goals of CNI embodied the general attitude of the Philippine government toward the so-called national cultural minorities. Most of the Philippine postwar administrations saw the Cordillera as a potential resource base. The first task at the time was the rehabilitation of the war-ravaged economy of the Cordillera. The conceptualization of infrastructure programs and of mechanisms for bringing both agricultural and industrial development to the area began. In 1964, Republic Act No. 4071, introduced by Congressman Luis Hora, ereated the Mountain Province Development Authority (MPDA), a structure patterned after the Tennessee Valley Authority. While the MPDA may have represented recognition of the distinct needs of the Cordillera, it was more of an instrument for the implementation of government-defined development thrusts. The objective for the creation of the MPDA was to coordinate and integrate all efforts of public and private agencies and supply highly trained personnel for the implementation of economic policies adopted.” The MPDA lost its raison d'etre when Republic Act No. 4695, otherwise known as the Division Law, was enacted on 18 June 1966, This divided the Mountain Province into four provinces, namely, Benguet, Ifugao, Mountain Province, and Kalinga-Apayao.”* Six years later, when the country was organi annexed to Region | (Benguet and Mountain Province) and to Region 1 (Ifugao and Kalinga- ‘Apayao). The reaction to the 1972 reorganization by Cordillera members of the Batasang Pambansa (National Legislature) was in 1984 to file bills to create a separate administrative region for the Cordillera (Region I-A) ~ an idea backed by the regional offices of the National into regions in 1972, the Cordillera provinces were Economic and Development Authority. Rood saw this political response of local leaders as * The Commission on National Integration Report, 12" Anniversary Celebs Sy. pp 2062 fenguet Socio-Economic Profile 1981 (Baguio City: Baguio Printing and Publishing Company, tne. 1961), p.2. ‘The province of Bontoc took on the name Mountain Province. People, however, centinuedl Wo refer the new Mountain Province as Bontoc, and many ‘began to refer to the old, now dismembered Mountain Province as BIBAK ~ for Benguet, Hugao, Bontoc, Apayao and Kalinga, BIBAK ‘organizations were formed by Igorot youth and professionals. ‘The reasons why thes ions c into being are probably worth considering in future studies. ee (1969).au indicati in 4 indicating an increasing ‘shift away from integration or assimilation, and back towards separation o autonomy?” Both the subdivision of the Mountain Province in 1966 and the reorganization of 1972 were projected by national authorities as measures for facilitating the development of the Cordillera. Certain observers, however, believed that they were politically motivated; that their Purpose was to hamper the growth of Cordilleran militancy, Integral to the government's thrusts was a program for the development of the hydropower potentials of Cordillera rivers. There were several river systems in the region, namely, Amburayan, Abra, Abulug, Agno, Chico, and Magat. To generate hydropower from the Agno for the National Power Corporation's Luzon Grid, the Ambuclao and Binga dams were built in the mid-1950s. Plans for the damming of the Chico started to take shape in the late 1960s and were finally drawn up in the early 1970s. These plans ushered in a new period in the history of resistance in the Cordillera, D. The Decade of the Chico Dams The Chico dam project provided impetus to the emergence of a new consciousness in the region. The Cordillera peoples began to realize that goverment disregard of their rights to their ancestral lands was the crux of their problem. It was not only their physical existence but their total survival as peoples which defined their relationship with their ancestral lands. If landlessness was the main concem of Filipino lowland peasants, defense of ancestral domain ‘was the substance of the struggle of the indigenous peoples of the Cordillera. Crisis became imminent in 1973 when the National Power Corporation (NPC) conducted a survey of the hydropower potentials of the Chico River system, the longest river system on the Cordillera mountain range. Plans for dam construction included four locations on the Chico River itself and other locations on two of its tributaries, the Tanudan and Pasil rivers. The Chico River Basin Development Project was expected to affect the municipalities of Sabangan, Bontoc, Sadanga, and Barlig of Mountain Province, and Tinglayan, Lubuagan, Pasi, Tanudan, and Tabuk in Kalinga-Apayao. The project threatened the people of these » Rood, Steven. Issues on Creating An Autonomous Region forthe Cnillera, Northern Philippines. CSC Working Paper 11, Match 1989, pp. 5.2 ‘municipalities with not only physical dislocation but the extinction of their ways of life. This was confirmed by documents which cited the political, religious and cultural implications of the project Mobilization against the project quickly intensified. ‘The communities that would be affected by the project organized several delegations to Manila and Baguio. Community leaders who parti peoples’ rights to survival. One Kalinga leader challenged an NPC official: pated in these delegations questioned the government's plans and asserted their First, do you mean to construct the dams, whether the people affected like it or not? Second, what is really more important to you: the development of things or the development of people? Third, if you decide in favor of dam construction, are we not in this way being considered non-Filipinos? Or are we third class?” Local organizations quickly grew in strength, Relatedly, the Kalinga and the Bontok tumed to their indigenous institutions. The bodong, which traditionally involved only two Villages who wished to forge a peace pact, transcended its bilateral character. During the period of the Chico dams, peace pacts paved the way to expressions of unity and interdependence among all dam-affected villages. A “bodong conference” held in December 1973 drew the participation of leaders from 21 Kalinga and Bontoc villages.*' Then in May 1975, 150 leaders forged a multilateral pact covering almost all the villages along the Chico River. The participants drew up a pagta ti bodong, sanctions of the peace pact, which defined the various inst the construction of the Chico dams. responsibil Opposition to the construction of the dams grew bolder. In 1976, Walden Bello ies of their villages in the struggle ay assessed the project as having been effectively stalemated. The government responded by intensifying military operations and by sending in PANAMIN, the Presidential Assistant on National Minorities, to which it assigned the task of softening up the opposition, Despite govemment efforts to guarantee the construction of the dams, the people’s resistance emerged. victorious. "This quote comes from a dialogue omes from a dialogue between the NPC and a Kalinga delegation regarding the construction of Chico dams, 3 February 1980._It appears in the Appendix of a paper by Joanna Carino, emtitled “The Chico River Basin Development Project: A Case Study in Development Policy,” (December aan peseienment Pr ase Study in Development Policy.” Aghamiao 3 Jocelyn Nettleton, nd) p. 73 “Nouveaux Protagonistes Dans La Lutte De Liberation aux Philippines,” (photocopy,2a ‘The record of the opponition to the construction of the Chico dams occupies a special niche in the history of the region. For the first time in the Cordillera’s history, resistance was characterized by collective and concerted action rather than fragmented responses to crisis. Another project which produced a similar effect was the Cellophil project. On 15 October 1973, the Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources (DANR) awarded Timber and Pulpwood License Agreement No. 261 to the C ‘ellophil Resources Corporation, one of the mumerous companics managed by then Marcos associate Herminio Disini. The logging concession covered 99.430 hectares of forest in Abra and ncighboring parts of the Mountain Province and Kalinga-Apayao, A year later, the DANR granted another concession which covered 99,230 hectares of land in these same provinces and in Hlocos Norte to Cellophil’s sister company, the Cellulose Processing Corporation ‘The Cellophil project stirred Tinggian militancy and led to the forging of the first “inter- tribal” peace pact on 24 September 1978. As in Chico, the ancestral land rights issue was raised. Although the Chico- and Cellophil- experience did not produce a pan-Cordillera consciousness that transcended ethnic differences, it nevertheless helped transform the Cordillera worldview. It produced a sense of the Cordilleran self. Joana Carifio reflects: “With the unfolding of the Chico and the Cellophil drama, dormant Igorot nationalism enflamed.”"? E. “There shall be created autonomous regions in Muslim Mindanao and the Cordillera” During the second half of the 1980s, the concept of Cordillera autonomy stirred the imagination and aroused the interest of various groups in the region. It must be stressed, however, that this was not the first time the idea was raised. Various groups had already cspoused velf-determination for the Cordillera, Its also noteworthy that representatives inthe defunct Batasang Pambansa attempted 10 pass laws for the creation of a separate Cordillera Pee eb ee eee » “The Growing Muli-Sectoral | somes eae re omd uring the conference of the Anthropological Association of the fot Mass Movement of the National Minorities in the24 region.” One study points out, moreover, that the practice of autonomy has actually been integral to the operation of various institutions indigenous to the region. With the inclusion in the Constitution of a provision mandating the legislature to pass a Jaw creating autonomous regions in Mindanao and the Cordillera, various groups began defining the substance of autonomy for the region, A Cordillera Regional Consultative Commission (CRCC) was formed by the Aquino administration 7 September 1988 to assist Congress in the drafting of an Organic Act for the Cordillera Autonomous Region. But even before the work to define autonomy could get started, the govemment declared Executive Order 220 which created the transitional Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR). This initially created widespread confusion, as administrative regionalization was mistakenly construed to be synonymous with regional autonomy. Confusion and disunity characterized the time. Even a coalition convened to allow ‘greater participation in the peace and development process broke up because its members could not reconcile their differences. This was the Cordillera Broad Coalition (CBC), composed of some professionals, goverment officials, sectoral organizations, the CPLA, and the Montanosa ‘National Solidarity — individuals and groups of diverse political persuasions and divergent agendas for the future of the region, In January 1990, the Cordillera electorate voted overwhelmingly against the proposed Organic Act of the Cordillera Autonomous Region (Republic Act 6766). This was with the exception of the province of Ifugao, All of the movements which espoused regional autonomy for the Cordillera campaigned against the proposed Organic Act (see Annex). While there was consensus on the level of rejecting the law, reasons for rejection varied. ‘According to many analysts, the law did not provide for genuine devolution of political and economic powers to the region. Also, Republic Act 6766 did not resolve the issue of the indigenous peoples’ right to ancestral domain. The “no” votes did not necessarily reflect the rejection of autonomy but opposition to Republic Act 6766. A study conducted by the Cordillera Studies Center of the U.P. College Gualberto Lumauig, Honorato Aquino, and William Claver filed bills for the ereation of a separate Cordillera region. * June Prill-Brett. “Indigenous Experience of Autonomy in the Cordillera.” Working Paper No. 10, Cordillera Studies Center, University of the Philippines College Baguio (1989).25 Raguio prior to the 1990 plebiscite revealed that a considerable number of people found autonomy acceptable," Another study, one which dealt with issues linked to autonomy, concluded that the following were the points of disagreement among groups: (1) the degree in which laws goveming ancestral domain and natural resource use should be subjected to national law: (2) the Femtonal coverage of the region; (3) revenue-sharing among the members of the Cordillera Autonomous Region; (4) the form of government, ie, whether parliamentary or presidential. * There were however, general points of agreement. The rejection of Republic Act 6766 did not spell the end for autonomy or the failure of integration. Let us note here that a second proposed Organic Act for an autonomous Cordillera region, Republic Act 8438 was put to a plebiscite on March 9, 1998. This time, only the province of Apayao voted favorably. Thus, regional autonomy was rejected a second time The Cordillera people's struggle for autonomy shows a consensus for the pluralist ‘model of integration, integration policies founded on the assimilationist model are definitely out tion. Autonomy will mean the recognition of the distinct character of the Cordillera. of the qu At the same time, it will provide for relations between the region and the rest of the nation. ‘The different social movements in the Cordillera are one in asserting the right to ancestral domain, a right whose recognition will ensure the socio-economic and cultural survival of Cordillerans as indigenous peoples. ‘The movement for autonomy is a continuing movement. A ‘The students (individually or in groups) are to construct a “time line” of events fiom the Spanish period which illustrate the idea that “resistance és the dominant theme in Cordillera History’. B. ‘The students can do the same as Letter A above for the American period. iudies Center, U P. College Baguio conducted a study on Cordillera residcats” 1y; Dr. Steven Rood was director for this research project. Rosanna Diaz, llera Autonomy Question: Current Problems, Issues and Policy Implications.” unpublished thei ted to the Social Sciences Division of the UP. College Baguio forthe degree 18.A. in the Social Sciences, 1993 "tn 198K, the Cordillera witudes towards auton