BANGUED, Abra – The Regional Development Council (RDC) in the Cordillera passed a resolution congratulating and commending the Cordillera Bodong Administration (CBA) and the Cordillera Peoples Liberation Army (CPLA) for the successful peaceful takeover of the Cordillera Regional Assembly (CRA) building from alleged CPLA ‘scalawags’ who had been occupying the structures for nearly two decades.
The RDC-Car also extended the same gesture to other groups who were instrumental in the successful peaceful takeover of the CRA building that allowed the Cordillera office of the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP-CAR) to take possession of the government property which could be used for its prescribed purpose depending on the decision of the technical working group (TWG) that was created for the crafting of the comprehensive master development plan of the whole Benguet-Ifugao-Bontoc-Apayao-Kalinga (BIBAK) lot along Harrison Road, Baguio City.
The approval of the resolution was made during the fourth quarter joint meeting of the RDC-CAR and the Cordillera Regional Peace and Order Council (RPOC) that was held at the Provincial Capital last November 15, 2017.
Unified CPLA Chairman and Vice Governor Ronald Balao-as expressed his gratitude to the RDC-CAR for recognizing the significant contributions of the active CPLA members who worked hard for the successful peaceful takeover of the CRA building from the alleged ‘scalawags’ who had been using the property for their reported illegal activities through the years that even tainted the image of the organization.
“We want to send a clear message to our fellow Cordillerans that the unified CPLA will not tolerate the enterprising and illegal activities of their officials and members that is why they have already expelled those who had been involved in various illegal activities in the past, thus, the organization is starting on a new note,” Balao-as stressed.
The CPLA chairman called on local officials and Cordillerans who are being harassed by self-proclaimed CPLA members involved in illegal activities in their areas of jurisdiction to immediately refer the matter to the CPLA leadership for validation whether or not those introducing themselves as CPLA members and whether or not their activities are sanctioned by the organization.
Balao-as added the group was able to gain headway in their efforts to cleanse the organization from erring members but there are still a good number of individuals who are still representing themselves as CPLA members even if they were already expelled from the group because of their wrongdoings in the past.
He claimed that the CPLA members were reminded not to repeat the wrongdoings of their expelled members because the officers will not hesitate to expel them once complaints will be brought to the attention of the CPLA leadership that they have been involved in illegal activities such as protecting squatters in public and private lands, extortion, harassment, land grabbing among others which does not coincide with the primary objectives of the group which is to sustain the quest for autonomy and fight for the rights of the oppressed.
By HENT
