Tabuk City, Kalinga - The two Cordillera People's Liberation Army (CPLA) factions which have been at odds since 1994 when they split set aside their differences for the sake of their common aspiration for the establishment of an autonomous government in the Cordillera as provided for in the 1987 Constitution.
In a meeting held in Bulanao, this city, night of April 24, top leaders of both factions - the Balweg and Molina factions - solemnly swore to be one and remain as one through the indigenous practice called sapata after choosing the officers of their high command through a consensus.
Chosen chairman and vice-chairman were former Bucloc, Abra mayor Mailed Molina, leader of the Molina faction, and Miguel Sugguiyao, Jr. of the Balweg faction, respectively. The other top officers of the reunited CPLA are the following: Arsenio Humiding (Molina faction) - political affairs officer; Leonardo Bun-as (Balweg faction) - chief of staff; and Juanita Chulsi (Molina faction) - deputy chief of staff.
Engr. Andres Ngao-i, CPLA member, informed the media that Secretary Jesus Dureza of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) and Philippine National Police Cordillera Regional Director Eugene Martin witnessed the oath-taking of the officers of the CPLA high command the following night at the Davidson Hotel in Bulanao.
Sugguiyao told local media that the process of reunification, which started in 2004 and was facilitated by the OPAPP and the National Security Council (NSC) was hastened by their common perception that the government is seemingly insincere in the new drive for Cordillera autonomy.
Sugguiyao said that the choice of the Regional Development Council (RDC) to spearhead the drive is especially suspicious because the advent of autonomy means the death warrant of the council.
Saying that despite the split in the ranks of the CPLA, they kept the hope for autonomy burning, Molina claimed that giving the CPLA a more important role in the drive for autonomy was stipulated in the memorandum of agreement (MOA) forged by the government and the CPLA on April 25 in this city as a result of a workshop on the concerns of the CPLA sponsored by the OPAPP
Signing for the government were Dureza and for the CPLA Molina and Sugguiyao. Gen. Martin and Col. Roberto Morales, commanding officer of the 501st Infantry Brigade of the Philippine Army stood as witnesses for the government and Marcelina Bahatan and Gabino Ganggangan, chairman and secretary general, respectively, of the Cordillera Bodong Administration, the political arm of the CPLA.
"We are one of the most active groups, if not the most active group, fighting for Cordillera autonomy. Our observation is that autonomy would have won in either of the two plebiscites had the campaign resources been used properly and those entrusted to spearhead the campaign done their best," Molina said.
Other salient points of the MOA, according to Molina, are the acceptance by both parties that the integration of the CPLA into the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) as provided under AO 18 has already been substantially accomplished and the commitment of the government to act on the long time request of the CPLA for the compensation of their members numbering around 70 who perished during joint CPLA-AFP operations against the New People's Army.
Molina told the media that what was not included in the MOA is their demand for the immediate revival of the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) bodies - the Cordillera Regional Assembly (CRA) and the Cordillera Executive Board (CEB) - precisely because the objective of these bodies is to prepare the region for autonomy.
The CAR bodies were in effect abolished in 2000 when the government reduced their budget to P1.00.
"The scrapping of the CAR bodies was ironic precisely because these bodies are additional channels of development for the region," Molina said.
Molina said that it appears the government is also deliberately controlling its compliance with its commitment to give livelihood assistance to the erstwhile rebel group.
"That's what we observed. They do not give outright. We still need to nudge them before they give. They may have their reasons though," Molina said.
Molina said that with the reconciliation of the CPLA factions, the government has no more reason to hold back its commitments to the CPLA embodied in the Mt. Data Peace Accord signed by then President Corazon Aquino and the late CPLA leader Fr. Conrado Balweg on September 13, 1986.
"In the past, every time we reminded the government of its unfulfilled commitments under the peace accord, they would say that the CPLA should first unite. We are now united," Molina said.
Asked if the reconciliation between the two groups whose feud once exploded into open violence means that the hatchet has been buried, Molina said that it looks that way. **By Estanislao Albano , Jr., ZZW; 04 May 2008
In a meeting held in Bulanao, this city, night of April 24, top leaders of both factions - the Balweg and Molina factions - solemnly swore to be one and remain as one through the indigenous practice called sapata after choosing the officers of their high command through a consensus.
Chosen chairman and vice-chairman were former Bucloc, Abra mayor Mailed Molina, leader of the Molina faction, and Miguel Sugguiyao, Jr. of the Balweg faction, respectively. The other top officers of the reunited CPLA are the following: Arsenio Humiding (Molina faction) - political affairs officer; Leonardo Bun-as (Balweg faction) - chief of staff; and Juanita Chulsi (Molina faction) - deputy chief of staff.
Engr. Andres Ngao-i, CPLA member, informed the media that Secretary Jesus Dureza of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) and Philippine National Police Cordillera Regional Director Eugene Martin witnessed the oath-taking of the officers of the CPLA high command the following night at the Davidson Hotel in Bulanao.
Sugguiyao told local media that the process of reunification, which started in 2004 and was facilitated by the OPAPP and the National Security Council (NSC) was hastened by their common perception that the government is seemingly insincere in the new drive for Cordillera autonomy.
Sugguiyao said that the choice of the Regional Development Council (RDC) to spearhead the drive is especially suspicious because the advent of autonomy means the death warrant of the council.
Saying that despite the split in the ranks of the CPLA, they kept the hope for autonomy burning, Molina claimed that giving the CPLA a more important role in the drive for autonomy was stipulated in the memorandum of agreement (MOA) forged by the government and the CPLA on April 25 in this city as a result of a workshop on the concerns of the CPLA sponsored by the OPAPP
Signing for the government were Dureza and for the CPLA Molina and Sugguiyao. Gen. Martin and Col. Roberto Morales, commanding officer of the 501st Infantry Brigade of the Philippine Army stood as witnesses for the government and Marcelina Bahatan and Gabino Ganggangan, chairman and secretary general, respectively, of the Cordillera Bodong Administration, the political arm of the CPLA.
"We are one of the most active groups, if not the most active group, fighting for Cordillera autonomy. Our observation is that autonomy would have won in either of the two plebiscites had the campaign resources been used properly and those entrusted to spearhead the campaign done their best," Molina said.
Other salient points of the MOA, according to Molina, are the acceptance by both parties that the integration of the CPLA into the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) as provided under AO 18 has already been substantially accomplished and the commitment of the government to act on the long time request of the CPLA for the compensation of their members numbering around 70 who perished during joint CPLA-AFP operations against the New People's Army.
Molina told the media that what was not included in the MOA is their demand for the immediate revival of the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) bodies - the Cordillera Regional Assembly (CRA) and the Cordillera Executive Board (CEB) - precisely because the objective of these bodies is to prepare the region for autonomy.
The CAR bodies were in effect abolished in 2000 when the government reduced their budget to P1.00.
"The scrapping of the CAR bodies was ironic precisely because these bodies are additional channels of development for the region," Molina said.
Molina said that it appears the government is also deliberately controlling its compliance with its commitment to give livelihood assistance to the erstwhile rebel group.
"That's what we observed. They do not give outright. We still need to nudge them before they give. They may have their reasons though," Molina said.
Molina said that with the reconciliation of the CPLA factions, the government has no more reason to hold back its commitments to the CPLA embodied in the Mt. Data Peace Accord signed by then President Corazon Aquino and the late CPLA leader Fr. Conrado Balweg on September 13, 1986.
"In the past, every time we reminded the government of its unfulfilled commitments under the peace accord, they would say that the CPLA should first unite. We are now united," Molina said.
Asked if the reconciliation between the two groups whose feud once exploded into open violence means that the hatchet has been buried, Molina said that it looks that way. **By Estanislao Albano , Jr., ZZW; 04 May 2008
1 comment:
I, of course, a newcomer to this blog, but the author does not agree
Post a Comment