Lumbaya is a veteran New Peoples Army (NPA) leader belonging to the Butbut tribe who was killed in action during an encounter with the military. Lumbaya was later used by the NPA leadership as the name of its elite strike force composed of indigenous revolutionary fighters owing it to their bravery and gallantry in fighting for the welfare of their own indigenous peoples (IPs). At that time, the ancestral domains of some indigenous peoples were slowly being taken by the government for its ambitious projects like the Chico dam series.
However, this Lumbaya Company of the NPA which was led by Fr. ConradoBalweg was forced to split from the NPA on April 7, 1986, because of ideological differences on issues related to the application of class struggle in the Cordillera.
The breakaway of the Lumbaya Company of the NPA gave birth to the Cordillera Peoples Liberation Army (CPLA) that served as the armed group of the Cordillera Bodong Administration (CBA). The CBA-CPLA is the party in the Mount Data ‘sipat’ which was entered into between the group and the Philippine government on September 13, 1986. The other development during this period was the inclusion of pertinent provisions in the 1987 Constitution mandating the establishment of autonomous regions in Muslim Mindanao and the Cordillera through the persistence of the various advocacy groups in the Cordillera and their allies.
Meanwhile, the CPLA started to splinter into groups after the first Organic Act or Republic Act (RA) 6766 was overwhelmingly rejected by the people during a plebiscite on January 30, 1990, due to various reasons one of which is the selfish interests of some of the influential leaders that slowly eroded the unifying factor among them, regional autonomy. Some of the CPLA leaders were reportedly involved in various controversial issues in the different parts of the region that resulted in the eventual loss of credibility of the organization, primarily due to some criminal activities and questionable acts of some of its officers and members. This led to the creation of factions whose leaders claimed to be the true leaders of the CPLA.
The credibility of the CPLA was further ruined when some of its officials and members paraded in full battle gear around the main streets of Baguio city that insulted authorities and residents alike for such brazen display of force. This was followed by a series of events that caused the eventual distrust of the people to the officials and members of the group that purported fight for the ideals and aspirations of self-governance for the region.
During the Arroyo administration, efforts were done to integrate qualified CPLA officials and members in the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) while the others were provided with livelihood assistance in exchange for their giving up their arms.
In July 2011, a faction of the CPLA signed a closure agreement with the Aquino administration, through the Office of the Presidential Assistance on the Peace Process (OPAPP), that resulted in the supposed disbandment of the CPLA and the creation of the Cordillera Forum for Peace and Development. The latter was supposed to be the economic and development partner of the government in implementing projects in former conflict-stricken areas primarily to improve their living condition. However, some of the factions did not recognize the closure agreement and still insisted on maintaining their arms and continue to fight for the unfulfilled commitment of the government under the Mount Data peace agreement which is the grant of autonomous status to the Cordillera.
Last April 24, 2017, the Regional Development Council in the Cordillera, in coordination with the OPAPP brought together pioneer autonomy advocates to the same venue where the historic Mount Data peace agreement was signed for a re-engagement to strengthen the region’s renewed quest for autonomy. All is well that ends well.
We were impressed by the maturity of the leaders of the CPLA factions in giving up their pride, talking things together and are now working out the reunification of all the six splinter groups of the organizations. The example shown by the CPLA leaders in that simple occasion is a giant step towards enhancing the RDC-CAR’s efforts in alliance-building to develop a bandwagon effect among sectors for a common goal: an autonomous set-up for the region. Much has yet to be done but much was achieved with the said reunification.
We absolutely agree with the remarks of Presidential Peace Adviser Jesus Dureza that amidst diversity in the region, concerned stakeholders have a common goal: the realization of the long overdue aspiration of being an autonomous region. Diversity should not be used as an excuse not to work for the achievement of autonomy but a motivation to unite on common goals and aspiration. However, it is still best for everyone to give up their personal, political and other interests and aspire for the greater interest of the people of the region because autonomy is seen as the future of the Cordillera that will be beneficial to our children and our children’s children.
Truly, it is never too late for unity among feuding groups once there is a unifying factor: the realization of the constitutional mandate on the establishment of an autonomous region in the Cordillera.
