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Tuesday, July 15, 2003
Autonomy remains an elusive dream, Kawi says
SIXTEEN years ago, former President Corazon Aquino signed Executive Order (EO) 220 creating the autonomous Cordillera region following a peace settlement between her administration and the Cordillera People's Liberation Army.
But the long-time quest for self-determination remains to be an elusive dream among Cordillerans following the failure of local leaders to lay the foundation for the autonomous CAR.
Still, lawyer Sergio Kawi, chair of the Cordillera Regional Assembly (CRA), stressed that it is better for the Cordillerans to "keep on dreaming that the region would eventually become autonomous just like the Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao."
He added that "the region is also setting the ground for development even as the Estrada administration and Congress conspired (and were able) to wind up the existence of the three transitory bodies - CRA, Cordillera Executive Board (CEB) and the Cordillera Bodong Administration (CBAd)."
The three bodies were created to supposedly set the foundation for an autonomous Cordillera region.
Even without funding from the national government, Kawi claimed that one of the greatest achievements since the 1987 Mt. Data peace accord was the integration of the 264 officers and members of the CPLA into the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
But as some concerned sectors expressed appreciation that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo declared Tuesday a special non-working holiday so that Cordillerans would be given the opportunity "to hold fitting celebration to highlight the historic significance of the occasion," Baguio-based militant groups, like the Cordillera Peoples Alliance, claimed there is nothing to celebrate.
The groups pointed out that the full recognition of the rights of indigenous peoples have not been respected by the government since Aquino issued EO 220.
Indigenous peoples and communities have also been targets of government oppressions, the CPA claimed, adding that many IPs were displaced from their ancestral lands and domains "due to destructive government and private projects like dams, mining and logging."
As reported, internal bickering among officials of the Cordilleras remains the biggest obstacle on the establishment of the autonomous region.
Solons also attributed the dismal turnout of the two previous plebiscites on autonomy to the failure of the three transitory bodies with regards to the supposed information dissemination campaign on the merits of an autonomous government.
Kawi, however, insisted that it was the local politicians who were blocking the success of the campaign.
Still, Baguio Rep. Mauricio Domogan continues to rally his colleagues and the local leaders to push for autonomy.
His vision of autonomy, though, is through a shift to a federal form of government, saying that federalism would allow individual provinces to flourish despite their quirks and the diversity of Philippine culture and politics. HFP
(July 15, 2003 issue)
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