By Atty. Antonio P. Pekas
In the 1970s the clamor for a separate region for the Cordillera provinces started. It was basically composed of the original sub-provinces of the old Mountain Province whose capital was then Bontoc. The sub-provinces were Bontoc, Apayao, Kalinga, Ifugao and Benguet. These ultimately became independent provinces with Bontoc becoming Mountain Province. When the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) was formed by virtue of Executive Order No. 220 of then President Corazon Aquino, Abra was included in the mix.
The rationale behind the clamor for a separate region was the uniqueness of the terrain that spawned a distinct set of cultures and traditions. Thus, the need for different laws and rules for an effective governance and by which the people can express themselves or actualize their cultures and traditions. While they might have their distinctions, there is a commonality that runs through their ways of life, partly due to their environment, history, etc.
With the creation of CAR, there is a need to make things more permanent which should pave the way for more freedom of the people to carve their own destiny. CAR was supposed to be in preparation for that, the establishment of an autonomous region. Unfortunately, our attempts did not make it through the required plebiscites.
All is well that ends well. Perhaps there is a need for more information dissemination or explanation on the pros and cons.
In an autonomous setup, we should be able to deal with problems unique to our situation in a faster and more effective way.
One such problem is the mergence of a new kind of land grabbers all over the region. They would not force you under the barrel of a gun to sign over the transfer of your indigenous land. They do it now through subtler ways that are legal and persuasive. By their education, or prestige, or power, or their access to capital, indigenous lands are now being lost to new “kids in town.” Dummies are being used to hide transactions attended by the sound of some pieces of silver being passed on to new hands.
There were legal measures adopted to prevent that from happening but these were easily subverted by the power of money and political power. Many of these land grabbers are eyeing choice parcels whose papers or titles were not perfected. They are salivating over mining areas, tourist spots, and those of good commercial value. Any adverse claimants or opposition are easily dealt with. As they say, there are so many ways of skinning a cat.
Sadly, so many of our own people are the land grabbers themselves or the ones facilitating the process. So it will not be long when land owners around will be new faces, so different from the traditional ones known to the indigenous people around these mountains.
Change of course cannot be stopped. But it should be on our own terms. But we might be hoping against hope.**
