Cordillera Peoples' Alliance

Center for World Indigenous Studies, circa 1999

CPA'S BEGINNINGS

The Cordillera Peoples' Alliance (CPA) is a federation of indigenous peoples' organizations in the central mountain region of Northern Luzon, Philippines. It was formally constituted by 27 peoples' organizations during a congress in Bontoc, Mountain Province in June 1984.

The CPA's founding is a crucial step towards uniting the Cordillera indigenous peoples in the defense of their ancestral domain and in their struggle for self-determination.

The CPA's membership today includes human rights and church organizations, sectoral organizations of women, farmers, youth, students, workers and urban poor; rural community organizations and peace pact holders representing several village, clan and tribal groups.

Drawing strength from its experiences during its early years, the CPA continues to pursue its commitment to advance the collective interests and welfare of the indigenous peoples of the Cordillera.

A SITUATION SUMMARY

The indigenous peoples of the Cordillera are collectively known as Igorots among whom are the ethnolinguistic groups of the Bontok, Kankanaey, Ibaloi, Kalinga, Ifugao, Isneg, Tinnggian, Gaddang, Kalanguya and others.

The Igorots are distinguished from the majority of Filipinos by the fact that their cultures did not undergo Hispanization and did not come under colonial rule until the mid-19th century.

Today, Cordillera communities face a number of problems that they will have to overcome if they are to survive as distinct peoples.

The Cordillera region, which consists of the provinces of Benguet, Ifugao, Mountain Province, Abra and Kalinga-Apayao is one of the country's remaining major resource areas, replete with vast forest, mineral, energy and aquatic resources. Exercising its prerogative to control and dispose of the region's natural wealth, the Philippine state has time and again facilitated the entry and expansion of large corporations that extract the Cordillera's resources without regard for the rights and welfare of the people. This has brought about unprecedented environmental destruction and if it continues at its present rate, the Cordillera may no longer be able to sustain its population beyond the next two generations.

In spite of the fact that the region provides huge revenues derived from expending its natural resources, Cordillera communities continue to experience state neglect. Basic social services, for instance, such as roads, schools, communication facilities and medical services, if at all present in certain areas, are sorely inadequate.

Since the Philippine legal system does not recognize indigenous concepts and customary laws concerning the rights of persons and peoples to land and territory, the Igorots have been vulnerable to dispossession and eviction from areas that they and their predecessors have occupied for generations.

To the Cordillera indigenous peoples, land and ancestral domain are central concerns. For them, land is not only a means of survival—it is the source of their ways of life.

Many of the Cordillera's indigenous production practices and systems for regulating resource use have proven their long-term viability. But these have not been given much regard by development planners. Instead, Cordillera peoples have had to endure discrimination as backward savages who display a propensity for resisting development.

Many indigenous socio-political institutions have proven valuable to the Cordillera peoples in their effort to maintain order and justice in their communities and in their struggle for collective survival and self-empowerment. But these institutions have not been recognized by the Philippine state. Instead, the people have had to bear with inappropriate, ineffective, unjust and undemocratic systems of political representation and local governance.

The Cordillera peoples have tried their own solutions to their problems but their efforts have often been met with military violence. The Cordillera today is among the most heavily militarized regions of the country.

It is in the context of the need for unity in the face of these problems that the Cordillera Peoples' Alliance was organized.

CPA'S AGENDA

The CPA is committed to advancing the interest and welfare of the indigenous peoples of the Cordillera. It seeks to unite the various ethnolinguistic groups and sectors in the region towards the realization of the following agenda:

• RECOGNITION OF THE INDIGENOUS PEOPLES OF THE CORDILLERA TO THEIR ANCESTRAL DOMAIN. The peoples' right to safeguard the integrity of their ancestral domain, and to use, control and develop its resources, should be protected.
• ESTABLISHMENT OF A CORDILLERA AUTONOMOUS REGION. A genuinely democratic and autonomous regional government is the best vehicle through which the Cordillera peoples can exercise self-determination within the framework of a sovereign Filipino nation. Within the autonomous region, the indigenous peoples of the Cordillera can exercise legislative, executive and judicial functions that are in keeping with their needs and particularities. The people will enjoy:
• the right to their ancestral territories, including the right to the use, ownership, autonomous management, disposition and development of the land and the natural resources within these territories;
• the right to economic prosperity;
• the right to maintain and develop their indigenous cultures, including their own economic, social and political institutions.
• the right to a life of peace and security.

AFFILIATIONS

The CPA affirms that the Cordillera peoples are Filipinos, and that their particular struggle for self-determination, justice and equality is an integral part of the Filipino struggle for national sovereignty, justice and democracy.

In keeping with this affirmation the CPA has affiliated with the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN), a federation of Filipino peoples' organizations committed to nationalist and democratic goals and the Kalipunan ng mga Katutubong Mamamayan ng Pilipinas (KAMP), a federation of indigenous peoples' organizations in the Philippines. The CPA is also a member of the Phil. Environmental Action Network (PEAN) and the Phil. Alliance for Human Rights Advocates (PAHRA).

Believing that the problems of the indigenous peoples of the Cordillera are similar to those of other indigenous peoples in the world. the CPA has actively sought to establish linkages with other indigenous peoples' movements and organizations. The CPA is an active member of the United Nations Working Group for Indigenous Populations and is also a member of the Asia Indigenous Peoples' Pact (AIPP), the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO), the Nuclear Free and Independent Pacific (NFIP) and the International Alliance of the Indigenous Peoples of the Tropical Rainforests.

DESKS AND PROGRAMS

RESEARCH AND EDUCATION

• preparing and disseminating popular education materials on the rights of indigenous peoples to ancestral domain; to the autonomous use, disposition, and management of resources within their territories; to economic prosperity
• developing and disseminating educational materials on the right of indigenous peoples to self-determination and regional autonomy

ORGANIZING

• providing trainings in community organizing and organizational management
• consolidating existing CPA chapters

INFORMATION AND CAMPAIGN

• disseminating information on indigenous peoples' concerns to the Filipino public, and enlisting support of various sectors for indigenous peoples' rights and welfare
• lobbying for legislative action towards the proper recognition of the rights of indigenous peoples to ancestral domain and regional autonomy

CULTURAL RENEWAL

• supporting projects for artistic research and development
• supporting community projects for the strengthening, renewal or rehabilitation of indigenous social institutions that have suffered neglect but may still prove relevant to contemporary situations

COMMISSIONS

• ENVIRONMENT COMMISSION - serves as the coordinating body for environmental campaigns and for the collation of existing data on the state of the environment on the Cordillera
• YOUTH COMMISSION - organizes and trains indigenous youth leaders; launches campaigns on specific issues affecting the youth
• ELDERS COMMISSION - initiates forums for the elders to gather and share knowledge and experiences in an effort to strengthen socio- political structures
• HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - coordinates all human rights-related activities of various non-government organizations, lawyers, religious groups and concerned individuals. This includes providing free legal assistance to victims of human rights violations; investigating, documenting and processing information on human rights violations and related issues; facilitating human rights education workshops among peoples' organizations; and disseminating information on the human rights situation
• SOLIDARITY COMMISSION - establishes and strengthens linkages with national and international advocacy groups; undertakes campaigns for the recognition of indigenous peoples' rights on the international level; and strengthens relations with other indigenous peoples in the Philippines and in various parts of the world.

For inquiries, write to

CORDILLERA PEOPLES' ALLIANCE
139 M. Roxas St., Trancoville
2600 Baguio City, Phil.

MAILING ADDRESS:
GARCOM Baguio (Box 596)
P.O. Box 7691, DAPO Domestic Rd.
1300 Pasay City, PHIL.

Telephone #: (74)442-7008
Fax#: (63)74-442-5347