By Joel B. Belinan
On September 13 or barely one week from today, the Cordillera marks the 36th year since the signing of the Mt. Data Sipat or Peace Pact. This was of course between then newly catapulted Cory Aquino Government and the Cordillera Peoples Liberation Army/Cordillera Bodong Administration(CPLA-CBA) led by then Rebel Priest Fr. Conrado Balweg. The Mt. Data Sipat was conducted using the “Allasiw”, the Cordillera Indigenous way of exchanging Peace Token between the two protagonists to usher in the cessation of hostilities.
In that historic event, President Cory Aquino who met with Fr. Balweg gave the Holy Bible and a Rosary to the CBA, the Political wing of the group. On the part of the military, then Defense Secretary Juan Ponce Enrile together with the then Armed Forces Chief of Staff General Fidel V. Ramos gave the CPLA an M-16 Armalite rifle. The CPLA/CBA, gave a Shield and Spear to the government as their “Allasiw” or peace token. With the signing of the Mt. Data Sipat, the following points were attained: the new government of the Philippines recognized the Cordillera Peoples’ Aspirations for Self- Determination, that all the government’s mega projects in the region will not be pursued, and that the government shall allow the CPLA/CBA to consult with the various people of the Cordillera.
On the part of the former rebel group, they shall cease their offensive moves against the government forces in the region and cooperate for the attainment of peace.
The Mt. Data Sipat did not just happen overnight but with painstaking initiatives and sacrifices of both the initial backdoor negotiators from the government and their counterparts from the CPLA/CBA. Those initial backdoor meetings were made possible through the local media intercessions and arrangements.
As narrated by the late veteran journalist Pepot Ilagan, together with the late Baboo Mondonedo and other few journalists from Baguio, they had to hike day and night to reach encampments of the rebel group to bring communications from the government representatives, then carry back the response. Immediately after she assumed the presidency, Pres. Cory Aquino called for national reconciliation among all armed groups in the country. At that time the country was besieged with conflicts such as those with the Muslim insurgency in the south, the communist movement that included their various factions, and the new faction that split from the New People’s Army in the Cordillera, the CPLA.
The CPLA was the very first to signify its intent to reconcile with the government, and thanks to those who made it possible that led to the Mt. Data Sipat. This Peace agreement had been highly criticized by various sectors of the Cordillera special by the left-leaning groups, big sectors of the intellegentia, and even elected and appointed government officials in the region.
The common description was that CPLA/CBA does not truly represent the people of the region. This agreement, however, became the basis of further negotiations that eventually resulted in the issuance of Executive Order (EO) 220 creating the Cordillera Administrative Region to prepare the region for the establishment of an Autonomous Region.
After this, the Balweg group’s advocacy on Autonomy became so popular that even the then leftist leaning Cordillera People’s Alliance went on to have their own version. Such advocacy resulted in the inclusion in the 1987 constitution crafted by the Constitutional Commission two provisions that provided for the establishment of an Autonomous Region in the Cordillera and in Muslim Mindanao. Unfortunately, our brothers in the south succeeded the first time they were given a chance.
In 1990, the Cordillera rejected it twice in a row the chances to become autonomous. Up to now, we are still lobbying for the passage of another law to fulfill that dream of an autonomous region. The Cordillera seems to be much more choosy compared to the Muslims in the south. said an elder of the CBA after the second rejection of an Organic Act in 1998. Or should we say, the Cordillera People’s being described as much more educated than the Muslims in the south may have become an obstacle to Autonomy?
Meantime most of those Cordillera Elders and high-commanders during the Mt. Data Sipat had already gone to the afterlife with not much hope, on their last moments, for the establishment of that dream. **
