Reflections on the Cordillera armed struggle

Some of the heaviest fighting by the NPA forces against the Philippines army took place in the Cordilleras. After the rebellion which overthrew the Marcos dictatorship in February 1986, the newly elected regime of Cory Aquino was forced to accept a cease-fire. Autonomous regions in Mindanao (the southern Philippines Island where the Moro national minority is conducting an armed agitation for a separate state) and the Cordilleras were incorporated into the 1987 constitution.

"Genuine autonomy means the right of the Cordillera nation to have its own autonomous government and its own autonomous army. It means the right of the Cordilleras themselves to decide how to develop their resources and how to chart the future of their nation. It means preserving the egalitarian social relations that exist amongst the Cordillera people", (Sonny Melencio, SPP)

As a result, the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) was set up in 1987. The CAR was seen as a transitional body administering the Cordillera region in preparation for full autonomy. The CAR consisted of a Cordillera Regional Assembly, a legislative body and the Cordillera Executive Board as the executive arm. It was during this period that the Cordillera leaders of the CPP-NPA split to form the CPLA and its political wing, the Cordillera Bodong Administration (CBA). However, after almost 13 years, no substantial measures have been taken by Manila to implement genuine autonomy for the Cordillera peoples.

The Cordillera people are an oppressed nationality. They inhabit a geographical region in the mountainous north whose economic and political centre is Baguio city, considered the summer capital of the Philippines. They speak different languages.