A few days ago was the Cordillera Day. The day felt like an ordinary day. Indeed, it was. For autonomy, as was evident for more than a decade already was dead. Even the traditional politicians who were for it due to their vested interests already stopped talking about it, must less to strongly advocate for it. For that would have been so hopelessly being anachronistic. Or stupidly fighting for something that has already become so hopeless.
But then again, if not autonomy, then what? The present set up, our region being called autonomous is not the best one for us, the Cordillerans. We are not well off when the region is one of the richest in the country. Nor are we at par with the rest of the country when it came to distribution of resources or opportunities. Are we going to just sit down contented about that?
The argument cannot be gainsaid that CAR is the result of a colonial set up. Where outsiders are interested to exploit the minerals in ‘em our hills’ and that required keeping us down. And what better way to perpetuate that than to ensure it with laws, rules, and the legal system as a whole.
And to embed it further is best done by denigrating our cultural heritage and social traditions that make us us.
Thus, dismantling these through an autonomous set up will always be an uphill climb. But to keep on climbing, learning along the way, is the only option if we are to expect a better region for the Cordillera people in the distant future.**