Published: 23 April 2016
Onward with the Politics of Change!
By Cordillera People's Alliance
We celebrate the 32nd Cordillera Day by
reaffirming our struggle for the defense of land, life and resources.
On this historic day, we give the highest salute to our heroes and
martyrs who dedicated their lives to the struggle of the Cordillera
peoples.
For 32 years, Cordillera Day has been a
living testament to the unwavering heroism and the continuing
struggle of the Cordillera peoples for genuine social change. Since
1984, Cordillera Day has been the biggest unifying political and
cultural gathering here and abroad for the defense of land, life and
resources.
32nd Cordillera Day is decentralized
but guided with a central theme “Advance Indigenous Peoples’
Struggle for Self-Determination. Onward with the Politics of Change.”
Each or cluster provinces will have their own celebrations to
highlight specific issues on environment, human rights and politics
of change. Moreover, decentralized celebrations reflect the growing
strength of the Cordillera people’s mass movement.
Revisiting the history of Cordillera
Day
Cordillera Day was borne out of State
fascism during the Marcos dictatorship. From Chico River Dams to the
Cellophil Resources Corporation, Marcos and his cronies unleashed
terror resulting to grave human rights atrocities and human suffering
against our people. We must never forget these especially during
these times that there is a concerted attempt to re-write history by
refurbishing the image of the Marcos dictatorship and denying the
grave abuses committed during the martial law period.
We must learn our history that on April
24, 1980, Macliing Dulag, a prominent leader of the people’s
opposition against the Marcos and World Bank-funded Chico River Dams,
was brutally murdered by the military in Tinglayan, Kalinga. We must
not forget the 1984 Beew Massacre in Tubo, Abra where a pregnant
woman, a child and an adult were burned to ashes by the military. We
must not forget the long list of the crimes of the Marcos
dictatorship against the Cordillera people. We must seek justice and
resolutely say “Never again to Martial Law!”
Resisting Plunder
Since colonial times, the State has
treated the Cordillera as a resource-base. And historically the State
undermines the rights of indigenous peoples and people of the
Cordillera over their ancestral territories in the name of
“development and progress”. Today, the remaining natural richness
of the region are under threat from multinational corporations and
the State. From rivers, mountains to the underground, energy and
large scale mining applications are all over the region.
These energy and mining operations and
applications are causing irreversible environmental damages, disunity
among communities, militarization and human rights violations. On the
ground, the Sta. Clara and Quadriver Corporations in cahoots with the
National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) deceived the people
in Tinoc, Ifugao in their attempt to build at least six mini-hydro
projects. But due to the strong opposition of the people, the project
was put on hold. SN Aboitiz Corporation, on the other hand, plans to
build the Alimit Hydroelectric Power Complex with at least
350Megawatts. This mega hydro complex will affect some parts and
communities of the municipalities of Lagawe; Lamut; Mayaoyao and
Aguinaldo in Ifugao.
In Kalinga; Apayao and Abra, mining and
energy corporations such as the Makilala Mining Company, Golden Lake
Mining Resources and global giant Chevron are violating the rights of
the people to free prior informed consent in partnership with the
local government unit and NCIP. The NCIP as an agency uses
misrepresentation and misuse of indigenous socio-political systems to
manipulate and disregard the FPIC processes. Common to these projects
is the deployment of State security forces as an investment defense
force to protect these energy and mining corporations. Aside from the
violations of FPIC, people are subjected to threat, harassment and
intimidation. In worst cases, members and leaders of local peoples
organizations who oppose these destructive projects are targets of
extrajudicial killings.
But as shown by our experiences with
several big dams and large scale mining operations, these projects
did not bring development and progress. In fact, Binga, Ambuclao and
San Roque Dams displaced thousands and its environmental effects are
causing misery to the Upstream and Downstream of these dams. Water
sources on these communities are also privatized. Lepanto
Consolidated Mining Company, Philex, Benguet Corporation and their
subsidiaries continue to pile up their lists of environmental
disasters to communities.
The plunder of our remaining resources
only serves the greed of capitalists, multinational companies and not
the interest of the people.
Asserting our human rights
The Cordillera people’s mass movement
and CPA experienced open attacks and various forms of human rights
violations from the Marcos Dictatorship, succeeding regimes and now
the BS Aquino regime. Even today, justice remains elusive for the
massacre of the Ligiw family, and the deaths of William Bugatti,
Delle Salvador and Rafael Markus Bangit. CPA pioneer and member James
Balao, a victim of enforced disappearance, remains missing up to
date. In Aquino’s remaining months, the open attacks continued with
the brazen harassment of CPA leader Xavier Akien, who was tailed by
unidentified men aboard two vans and two motorcycles.
CPA condemns this blatant act of
terrorism. This pattern of surveillance is not simply tailing but an
operation beyond that. This pattern of surveillance shows intent of
enforced disappearance, of extrajudicial killings. These acts of
harassment and surveillance are exactly the events that took place
before the killing of Markus Bangit, before the enforced
disappearance of James Balao--- all CPA leaders for whom, up to now,
justice has not been served. Even in the provinces, this harassment
is experienced by local leaders and community leaders.
As a duty bearer, the State must
respect, protect and fulfill human rights. Surveillance, harassment
and other forms of human rights violations against members and
leaders of people’s organizations must be stopped. Being a member
or a leader to an organization is not a crime. Organizing and
mobilizing communities for a common good is just. Participating in
political assemblies, rallies, and other protest actions is a basic
right of people. As the history of Cordillera Day has taught us, we
need to assert and defend our rights when the State interferes and
uses its armed machineries against the people.
Onward with the Politics of Change
Our current political system is rotten.
And we have no illusion that an election can simply solve the
entrenched problems of our society. Instead, we use election as a
venue to assert our call for politics of change. Politics of change
means a change in the political system as a springboard for genuine
economic development that leads to progress. Politics of change would
also mean the recognition of the right to self-determination of
indigenous peoples and control of resources in their territories. It
would also mean forwarding reforms that will truly serve the
interests of the people.
In the light of the coming elections,
Cordillera Day 2016 also serves as a platform to raise the indigenous
peoples’ electoral agenda, and to express our collective support
for progressive candidates and partylists. As we face a seemingly
hopeless situation because of massive corruption, State neglect and
human rights violations, there is an urgency to send a fighter for
the people to the Senate and to increase the number of progressive
partylist representatives in the lower house.
People’s lawyer Neri Colmenares, son
of a clerk and security guard, and a 3-term Bayan Muna Partylist
Congressman and Deputy Minority Leader in the Lower House (check
this) is made for this need. He authored and co-authored at least 9
laws on people’s welfare, such as the Human Rights Victims
Reparation and Recognition, Anti-Torture Law, Free Disaster Alerts
and the P2,000 pesos SSS pension increase (which was vetoed by
President BS Aquino). He is also a survivor of the martial law
dictatorship. Let us send our Fighter ng Bayan Colmenares to the
Senate.
Likewise, progressive party lists under
the Makabayan Coalition namely: Bayan Muna, ACT Teachers, AnakPawis,
Kabataan and Gabriela have passed numerous laws for senior citizens,
youth, women, teachers, media, persons with disabilities, health
workers, peasants and more. These progressive partylist
representatives are men and women of honor and courage with a bias
for the oppressed poor. They abhor corruption, human rights
violations and State neglect, and fight for the interest of the
people. They are exemplary servants of our people and are badly
needed in congress. Let us vote for the true voices and
representatives of the marginalized sectors who can really speak out
and legislate laws for the interests of the majority.
Continuing the challenges of our heroes
and martyrs
Today, we remember our heroes and
martyrs who sacrificed their lives for the defense of the land, life
and resources. This year, we highlight two pioneer elders of CPA who
defended the Cordillera until their last breath: Padi Eduardo Solang
and Ina Endena Cogasi were exemplary leaders who stood firm amidst
threats to their lives and State repression. We highly value their
contributions to the Cordillera people’s struggle, which are
weightier than the Cordillera mountains.
As we celebrate the 32nd Cordillera
Day, we are reminded of the value and correctness of the people’s
struggle to achieve genuine change in our society. Our celebration
serves as a reaffirmation of our duties as Igorots and people of the
Cordillera to defend our land, life and resources not only for us but
for the future generations. May our celebration inspire us and
strengthen our solidarity to continue the struggle against a common
enemy. We owe it to our heroes and martyrs to pick up what they have
left and continue serving the people. Like our forefathers, we will
fight until we achieve genuine regional autonomy, national democracy
and self-determination.
- Next
- See more at:
http://ilps.info/index.php/en/statements/2058-cordillera-day-2016-advance-indigenous-peoples-struggle-for-self-determination#sthash.S0mfWd7Z.dpuf
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