CPLA accepted in Cordillera regional peace council

From the Manila Times (Dec 17): CPLA accepted in Cordillera regional peace council

Baguio City: A former armed rebel group in the region, which pursued autonomy for the Cordillera region was accepted as a new member in the Cordillera Regional Peace and Order Council (RPOC). The Cordillera Peoples Liberation Army (CPLA), now known as the Cordillera Forum for Peace and Development (CFPD), was accepted in the council during the fourth quarter RPOC meeting. The CFPD has been requesting to become a member of the RPOC after the CPLA-Cordillera Bodong Administration signed a memorandum of agreement with the Philippine Government last year. The agreement facilitated the group’s final disposition of arms and forces and its transformation into a “socio-economic force.”  CFPD Chairman Arsenio Humiding had been presenting to the RPOC various documents including the group’s registration in the Securities and Exchange Commission, to prove that they have been transformed into a civilian organization pursuant to the provisions of the cited agreement.

Gov. Eugene Balitang, RPOC chairman, of Ifugao province said that the application of CFPD for membership in the RPOC was put on hold during previous meetings due to the processes undertaken for the group’s transformation into an unarmed force. Philippine Army battalions based in the Cordillera, namely the 501st, 502nd and 503rd Infantry Brigades, expressed support for the move of the former rebel group. They hailed the move as a contribution to the peace and order efforts of authorities in the region.

In the past months, the CFPD has been profiling its members in the different provinces in the Cordillera. At present, more than 1,000 members have been profiled. Through the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process, the Police Regional Office-Cordillera also conducted inventory and valuation of firearms and explosives of the CFPD members. The turn-over was conducted in the six provinces in the region but the police is still waiting for the final turn-over of firearms and explosives after only 386 were valuated out of the more than 600 which were previously reported by the CPLA.

http://www.manilatimes.net/index.php/news/regions/37590-cpla-accepted-in-cordillera-regional-peace-council