SUPPORT TO AUTONOMY. Former President Fidel V. Ramos, who was among the participants in the exchange of tokens (Sipat) between former President Corazon Aquino and rebel priest Conrado Balweg on September 13, 1986 at Mount Data Hotel in Bauko, Mountain Province, signs the board with the message of support for the Cordillera’s continuing clamor for autonomy during the anniversary celebration at the PICC in 2018. The Cordillera Administrative Region was created by virtue of Executive Order 220 that came after the exchange of tokens, marking the start of the end of hostilities in the Cordillera. (Screenshot from PIA-CAR video)
The creation of the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) is one of the most successful results of the talks between the government and rebel fighters, one that embodies a sense of sincerity by both parties to talk peace.
“We responded to the call for peace of then President Cory (Aquino),” said Sadanga, Mountain Province Mayor Gabino Ganggangan in an interview with Philippine News Agency (PNA) on Thursday.
Ganggangan was 24 years old and among the secretariat members when former President Corazon “Cory” Aquino and Cordillera People’s Liberation Army (CPLA) head, former rebel priest Conrado “Ka Ambo” Balweg, met for the traditional "sipat" or exchange of tokens on September 13, 1986. It marked the start of the end of hostilities in the mountains where the Igorots live.
The tokens exchanged include a Bible, a rifle, and a rosary from Aquino to Balweg. Cory received a spear, shield, bolo and a head ax from Balweg on September 13, 1986 at Mount Data Hotel in Bauko, Mountain Province.
The agreement led to the issuance of Executive Order 220 on July 15, 1987 that created the CAR.
The Cordillera region, especially in Kalinga province, recognizes the indigenous way of settling dispute they call "bodong". "Sipat" is the initial stage when the warring parties exchange tokens composed of items important to them, given to the leader who will continue with the process, leading to the final settlement of a dispute or the agreement called the "pagta".
“We responded to the call for peace, dialogue by the President because that was our nature as a tribe. By nature, we want to resolve things peacefully and nobody likes war forever, at least when the new government said let us stop war, let us talk on how we can resolve your problem in a peaceful manner. Sino ba naman ang ayaw nun [peace] (Who would not want peace),” Ganggangan said.
Ganggangan said there was nationwide unrest in 1986. In the mountainous provinces in northern Luzon, known as the Cordillera, hostilities caused by the Communist Party of the Philippines - New People's Army (CPP-NPA) plagued the area, Ganggangan recalled.
He said this part of the region was then disturbed by several issues, including the construction of the Chico Dam in Kalinga, the cellophil project in Abra, and the indigenous peoples’ right to their land and resources.
The mayor said “with the coming in of a new government, there was a new hope and the pronouncement to talk enticed Balweg and his group.”
Balweg served as leader of the group in the region and continued the fight against the government for self-determination and right over their land and resources after separating from the NPA.
The split was due to the differing treatment of the issues fought for by Balweg’s group, which resulted in crippling the NPA's armed struggle in the mountains of northern Luzon.
“We separated from the CPP-NPA at that time, because iba nga (it was different) how they look at the problems of the Cordillera and their supposed solution. We deferred from it that is why we separated," Ganggangan said.
For him, the “Sipat", which happened 33 years ago, remains to be the most successful peace negotiation, and perhaps the first ever.
“After 33 years from the time the CPLA and Balweg raised the 26-point demand to the government which is summarized in one word -- autonomy, the Cordillera people still live up to the peace which is what drives the region’s leaders to continue towards attainment of self-determination through peaceful means," he said.
Ganggangan shared that Balweg was invited by former President Fidel V. Ramos to witness the signing of a peace agreement with Nur Misuari's faction of the Moro National Liberation Front and was told: “Alam niyo, how we succeeded in the peace negotiation with the MNLF, we learned a lesson from the CPLA.”
Ganggangan said Ramos also witnessed the “Sipat” agreement.
Andres Ngao-I, a member of the "Sipat" secretariat, said without the "Sipat", there would have been no Cordillera Administrative Region.
“In this commemoration, let the national government be reminded of the agreement and the successful peace talks which we Cordillerans uphold until now and peacefully clamors for the national government to give to us -- the autonomy,“ he said.
Ngao-I, a private sector representative in the Cordillera Regional Development Council, was the proponent of the resolution to make the day of the “Sipat” a special non-working holiday in the region.
One of the signatories of the 1986 Sipat agreement, Leonardo “Musling” Bun-as of Tinglayan, Kalinga recalled in an earlier interview the day the peace agreement was signed.
"We were happy when President Cory said that it should not be guns that must talk. We should be on the table talking to solve the problem and our demands,” Bun-as said in the local dialect.
“I was feeling happy then because the peace talks came out positive and there would be no more fighting,” he said.
Malacañang issued Proclamation 802 declaring September 13, 2019 as special non-working holiday in the CAR in commemoration of the "Sipat".
https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1080306
“We responded to the call for peace of then President Cory (Aquino),” said Sadanga, Mountain Province Mayor Gabino Ganggangan in an interview with Philippine News Agency (PNA) on Thursday.
Ganggangan was 24 years old and among the secretariat members when former President Corazon “Cory” Aquino and Cordillera People’s Liberation Army (CPLA) head, former rebel priest Conrado “Ka Ambo” Balweg, met for the traditional "sipat" or exchange of tokens on September 13, 1986. It marked the start of the end of hostilities in the mountains where the Igorots live.
The tokens exchanged include a Bible, a rifle, and a rosary from Aquino to Balweg. Cory received a spear, shield, bolo and a head ax from Balweg on September 13, 1986 at Mount Data Hotel in Bauko, Mountain Province.
The agreement led to the issuance of Executive Order 220 on July 15, 1987 that created the CAR.
The Cordillera region, especially in Kalinga province, recognizes the indigenous way of settling dispute they call "bodong". "Sipat" is the initial stage when the warring parties exchange tokens composed of items important to them, given to the leader who will continue with the process, leading to the final settlement of a dispute or the agreement called the "pagta".
“We responded to the call for peace, dialogue by the President because that was our nature as a tribe. By nature, we want to resolve things peacefully and nobody likes war forever, at least when the new government said let us stop war, let us talk on how we can resolve your problem in a peaceful manner. Sino ba naman ang ayaw nun [peace] (Who would not want peace),” Ganggangan said.
Ganggangan said there was nationwide unrest in 1986. In the mountainous provinces in northern Luzon, known as the Cordillera, hostilities caused by the Communist Party of the Philippines - New People's Army (CPP-NPA) plagued the area, Ganggangan recalled.
He said this part of the region was then disturbed by several issues, including the construction of the Chico Dam in Kalinga, the cellophil project in Abra, and the indigenous peoples’ right to their land and resources.
The mayor said “with the coming in of a new government, there was a new hope and the pronouncement to talk enticed Balweg and his group.”
Balweg served as leader of the group in the region and continued the fight against the government for self-determination and right over their land and resources after separating from the NPA.
The split was due to the differing treatment of the issues fought for by Balweg’s group, which resulted in crippling the NPA's armed struggle in the mountains of northern Luzon.
“We separated from the CPP-NPA at that time, because iba nga (it was different) how they look at the problems of the Cordillera and their supposed solution. We deferred from it that is why we separated," Ganggangan said.
For him, the “Sipat", which happened 33 years ago, remains to be the most successful peace negotiation, and perhaps the first ever.
“After 33 years from the time the CPLA and Balweg raised the 26-point demand to the government which is summarized in one word -- autonomy, the Cordillera people still live up to the peace which is what drives the region’s leaders to continue towards attainment of self-determination through peaceful means," he said.
Ganggangan shared that Balweg was invited by former President Fidel V. Ramos to witness the signing of a peace agreement with Nur Misuari's faction of the Moro National Liberation Front and was told: “Alam niyo, how we succeeded in the peace negotiation with the MNLF, we learned a lesson from the CPLA.”
Ganggangan said Ramos also witnessed the “Sipat” agreement.
Andres Ngao-I, a member of the "Sipat" secretariat, said without the "Sipat", there would have been no Cordillera Administrative Region.
“In this commemoration, let the national government be reminded of the agreement and the successful peace talks which we Cordillerans uphold until now and peacefully clamors for the national government to give to us -- the autonomy,“ he said.
Ngao-I, a private sector representative in the Cordillera Regional Development Council, was the proponent of the resolution to make the day of the “Sipat” a special non-working holiday in the region.
One of the signatories of the 1986 Sipat agreement, Leonardo “Musling” Bun-as of Tinglayan, Kalinga recalled in an earlier interview the day the peace agreement was signed.
"We were happy when President Cory said that it should not be guns that must talk. We should be on the table talking to solve the problem and our demands,” Bun-as said in the local dialect.
“I was feeling happy then because the peace talks came out positive and there would be no more fighting,” he said.
Malacañang issued Proclamation 802 declaring September 13, 2019 as special non-working holiday in the CAR in commemoration of the "Sipat".
https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1080306
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