Module 2: Colonial Ideology of “Divide and Rule” 1

UNIVERSITY OF THE CORDILLERAS

College of Arts and Sciences
Department of Political Science
MODULE 2 IN CORDILLERA 101
(CORDILLERA: HISTORY AND SOCIO-CULTURAL HERITAGE)
LESSON 2
POLITICAL DIVISION

You would now learn the historical antecedents of the fourth layer of the Cordillera
identity – the political categorization that is essential for policy planning and
implementation.

OBJECTIVES:
At the end of the topic, students are expected to:
1) Describe how the change in political borders and political division
affected the identity and resource management of the Cordillera
and the growth of a resistance movement.
2) Give reasons for reinventing the meaning of a despised regional
identity and the adoption of an inclusive regional identity.

KEY CONCEPTS TO UNDERSTAND:

EO 220 militarization PANAMIN PD 01 sipat

TEACHING-LEARNING ACTIVITY/LESSON PROPER:

POLITICAL DIVISION
The fourth layer of Cordillera identity is based on political affiliation (Anongos, 2023).
This layer resulted from the political creation and later a series of divisions of
Mountain Province. Doyo (2015) remarked that:
The Americans were able to consolidate their political control in the
Cordillera with the establishment by the Philippine Commission of the
Mountain Province in 1908. This new province, with Bontoc as the provincial
capital, had seven (7) sub-provinces: Benguet, Amburayan, Lepanto,
Ifugao, Bontoc, Kalinga, and Apayao. There was a governor for the entire
province and one lieutenant governor for each sub-province.
Florendo (as cited in Angnged, 2019) observed that:
Most of the Americans who were sent to the Cordillera were designated
rank of lieutenant governor who were in charge of the governance in the
sub-provinces of the Mountain Province. The more familiar ones are: John
C. Early (Amburayan), Norman Conner (Apayao), Elmer Eckman (Bontoc) J.H. Evans
(Benguet) and Walter Hale (Kalinga), Charles Nathorst and Willima Dosser”.
In 1920, a boundary realignment was done, and the effect on cultural identity is
described by Anongos (2023) to have:

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caused identity adjustments for some. Alilem, Amburayan, and Lepanto

were dissolved and boundaries between Mountain Province and the
lowland provinces were redefined. Consequently, Tagudin and other parts
of Lepanto and Alilem were added to Ilocos Sur ( Act No. 2877, 1920). Much later,
Langagan and Allacapan were transferred to Cagayan. It is from these
boundary changes that placed many people in units outside of their cultural
connections. Some of these have been labeled as Bago but continue to
align themselves with their Kankanaey roots.
The boundary rearrangements came a few years after the
implementation of the Jones Law in 1916. The Jones Law allowed for the
Filipinization of numerous government positions. As a result, the upper house
(Philippine Commission) gave way to an all-Filipino senate. Non-Christian provinces
were given special representation in both senate and the lower house, and
Mountain Province was represented at different times by Juan Carino and
Henry Kamora of Benguet sub-province, Rafael Bulayungan and Joaquin
Codamon of Ifugao sub-province, Clemente Irving, Hilary Clapp, Rodolfo
Hidalgo, and Felix Diaz of Bontoc sub-province. The BNCT was also revived
not as a research arm but as an administrative office in charge of all non-
Christians. This was placed under the control of Philippine legislature. For the
first time, Mountain Province was, therefore, under the direct supervision of
Filipinos through the BCNT. Joaquin Luna, from La Union, became its first
Filipino governor.
At the end of the American colonial rule, science and census have
already classified the people of the Cordillera Central according to
perceived cultural and linguistic features. Despite clarification in
ethnological works, the term Igorot, and all its bad connotations, continued
to be applied to the general population. Such unfavorable connotations
were translated into prejudices and discrimination when Igorots
encountered outsiders. Some lowlanders, particularly, have looked down
with contempt upon Igorots, and discriminated against educated natives.
Customs, usages, and traditions associated with Igorotness have also been
despised, even by lowlander officials and employees of Mountain Province.
The term Igorot, which was reportedly used by lowlanders to frighten or
reprove their children, has by this time become an opprobrium ( Keesing, 1934).
By the 1930s, Igorot themselves developed a growing aversion to the term
that an alternative label, “mountaineer,” has become more acceptable. An
Igorot organization of professionals that called itself BIBKA, which stands for
Benguet, Ifugao, Bontoc, and Kalinga-Apayao, preferred the term “native”
over “Igorot” (Finin, 2005). …
Schooled Igorot tried their luck in employment, which placed them
against outsiders and in the course of such felt discriminated ( Finin, 2005).
Apparently, such different treatment of Igorots stemmed, not from
intellectual inferiority, but from their being Igorot and all the negative
connotations attached to it. In 1958, a bill was proposed by Congressman
Luis Hora prohibiting the use of “Igorot” in printed materials. The bill
supported the use of “highlander” but failed to progress into law. Highlander
students in Baguio responded to the discrimination by organizing themselves,
exemplified by the BIBAK (Benguet-Ifugao-Bontoc-Apayao-Kalinga) organization that
unified students from all corners of the region. BIBAK allowed cultural

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expressions for the students, becoming the sanctuary of highlander students

in Baguio and nearby tertiary schools. Alternative labels were also raised to
replace “Igorot” such as “mountaineer,” “native,” and “highlander,” but
these were adopted individually according to one’s liking.
Mountain Province was subdivided into four (4) new provinces in 1966. This
division created Benguet, Ifugao, Kalinga-Apayao, and a new Mountain
Province, which covered the Bontoc territory. It was believed that a division
would bring the administration closer to the people. The proposal was not,
however, new as Benguet leaders have been pushing for this action early
on. They felt that Benguet holds the economic burden for the whole
province because it hosts key and productive industries like mines ( Fry, 2006).
Doyo (2015) added that “[L]arge portions of the former sub-provinces of
Amburayan and Lepanto were ceded to Ilocos Sur and La Union while the rest was
divided between Benguet and Mountain Province.”

Partitioning the Cordillera

During the Martial Law period, former president Marcos, Sr. enacted laws
through presidential decrees (PD), one of which was PD No. 1 of 1972 resulting in the
regionalization of the Philippines, that is, provinces were grouped into regions. In
the Cordillera, Mountain Province and Benguet were placed under Region I
together with the Ilocos provinces. On the other hand, Ifugao and Kalinga-Apayao
were placed under Region II together with Cagayan, Isabela, Nueva Vizcaya, and
Quirino. In relation to the partition’s effect on regional identity, Anongos ( 2023)
commented that:
[the] “subdivision threatened a regional identity developed earlier. Under
these separations, what kept regional affiliations among the highlanders was
a historical similarity and a common label of being a cultural minority. The
contentious “Igorot” label remained acceptable to others but the political
division killed the spread of such acceptance.
Meanwhile, scholars continue to iron out ethnic classification in the
Philippines. For Cordillera Central, an authoritative map by Robert Fox and
Elizabeth Flory prepared in 1974 named 12 groups with Balangao, I’wak,
Ikalahan, and Amduntog Atipulo being added to Beyer’s list of 1916. The use
of “Igorot” as an ethnic classification disappeared in this work and other
works including the government censuses
In explaining the partitioning of the Cordillera, Doyo (2015) claimed that:
The splitting of the Cordillera was in line with the government's strategy of
treating the region as resource areas for Ilocos and the Cagayan Valley.
Because of this, there was dissatisfaction among the Cordillerans that
development thrusts in northern Luzon were primarily geared towards the
lowland areas while the Cordillera itself has largely remained
underdeveloped.
And what resources are there in the Cordillera region that can be tapped for
the development of the two regions? Buendia (1987) provides the answer:
The whole area of Cordillera is rich in natural resources. Its mountains used
to be thickly forested before commercial logging corporations denuded
much of the forests. Its mossy pine, and hardwood forests provide the

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backdrop of many plants and animal species and likewise serve as

watersheds for great rivers and waterways which flow from the uplands
down to the lowlands. Aside from land, forests, and rivers, mineral resources
have been bountiful. Among the metallic resources found in ‘different parts'
of the Cordillera are gold, silver, copper, zinc, molybdenum, manganese,
cadmium, tellurium, iron, and chromite. Among the non-metallic resources
found are limestones, pyrite, silica, cement, clay, coal, guano phosphates,
gravel and stones. 'Uranium, on the other hand, has recently been
discovered in Monggayang, Kiangan, and oil has been reported in Natonin-
Paracelis area and other parts of the Cordillera.
In 1995, RA 7878 was enacted and resulted in the separation of Kalinga and
Apayao as distinct provinces. (Anongos, 2023)

Reviving a Regional Identity

The enumerated natural capital of the Cordillera made it an easy victim of
development aggression, that is, development projects were planned and
implemented by the national government in violation of the IP’s rights. However,
the issue of development aggression was a unifying element among the varied
ethnolinguistic groups in the region. Anongos (2023) provides the historical
foundation of the movement that sought an acceptable and unifying regional
identity for the varied ethnolinguistic groups in the Cordillera region.
Chico river runs through Mountain Province and Kalinga. In 1973, the
National Power Corporation (NPC) began its survey of a planned dam along
this river. The plan was to build four dams from Sabangan in Mountain
Province to Tabuk in Kalinga. The project, which did not care to secure any
consent from the affected areas, was opposed by communities directly
affected by the dam construction. Locals dismantled camps of the
exploration group and petitioned government agencies and Malacanang
to discontinue the dam. In response, the government used a new office
called Presidential Assistant on National Minorities (PANAMIN) in an attempt to
stop the opposition. PANAMIN took over the functions of the CNI as overseer
of the national minorities. During the Chico controversy, PANAMIN distributed
goods and money to affected areas and facilitated meetings with
government authorities. It also offered similar scholarship grants to selected
students as the CNI did earlier. When the strategy failed, soldiers were
brought in to secure the operation.
In nearby Abra, a logging concession was granted by the government to
a corporation covering 200 hectares of Benguet pine trees. Cellophil
Resources Corporation (CRC) began its operation also without consultation
with the affected areas. The logging invited Tingguian opposition, which was
countered with militarization of the logging areas.
Non-government organizations, churches and the media joined the
opposition against the two projects. The New People’s Army ( NPA), which was
just starting its operation in the region, sided with the affected communities,
attracting hundreds of recruits as a consequence. Among those recruited in
Abra were Catholic priests like Conrado Balweg, Bruno Ortega, Cirilo
Ortega, and Nilo Valerio.

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It was on the occasion of these oppositions that the traditional Vochong

or peace pact system was utilized by affected communities to forge united
resistance to the dam project and later to the logging activities.
Part of the strategies employed by opposition to the dams was to attract
attention from the public and the media. For this it was decided that it was
easier to do so by utilizing the “Igorot” as such term would easily bring to
mind the stereotype of a loincloth-wearing man with unkempt hair playing
gongs. The term also was meant to project the warrior spirit of old
headhunting practices against a government enemy. The use also revived
historic and successful Igorot resistance to Spanish colonialism. Speeches,
communication, and conferences made use of “Igorot,” and “Kaigorotan”
was also coined as an inclusive name for the entire Igorot population. In a
way, the opposition to these projects brought affected communities closer,
bringing Tingguians closer to other highlanders of Mountain Province and
Kalinga. In this context, “Igorot” was somehow redefined as an identity to a
resistance.
The projects eventually were discontinued but not after it occasioned
disunity and violence in Abra, Mountain Province and Kalinga. In 1980, a
known opposition leader from Kalinga, Macliing Dulag, was gunned down
in his own home in Bugnay. Instead of silencing the opposition, the
assassination of Dulag widened support, including international groups, for
the stoppage of the project. The CRC operation was finally halted in 1984
and the Dam project ended a few years later.
An important lesson derived from the two projects and the experience of
resistance to the projects is the realization of how national minorities, as an
alternative label for cultural minorities, were treated. The territories of
minorities were viewed only as a resource base for the benefit of the
majority. Add to that the absence of serious consultation and consent. These
and a shared history of Spanish colonial resistance as well as having a distinct
culture combined to convince highlanders to seek autonomy. It was not
surprising that activists of the period, later to be led by the Cordillera People’s
Alliance (CPA), began the drive for an autonomous Cordillera. This was
reinforced by the Cordillera People’s Liberation Army ( CPLA), led by Father
Balweg, and a breakaway group of the New People’s Army ( NPA). Because
of the absence of a single administrative unit that would unify the entire
region.
Another geographical term was adopted to group people of the old
Mountain Province and Abra. As a geographic jargon, Cordillera refers to
parallel mountains, and for northern Luzon. Cordillera includes Sierra Madre,
Malaya range, and Cordillera Central. It is from Cordillera Central that
“Cordillera” and “Cordilleran” were derived as a new label for the region
and its people. The term competed with Igorot as an identity in the 1980s
and the 1990s, and a number of key players for the autonomy named their
groups with “Cordillera” in it, such as Cordillera Broad Coalition (CBC),
Cordillera People’s Alliance (CPA), Cordillera People’s Liberation Army (CPLA),
Cordillera People’s Democratic Front (CPDF), and Cordillera Bodong
Administration (CBAd). … decision to name the region “Cordillera” and the
title of the advocacy of “Cordillera Autonomy,” as well as naming related

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offices with Cordillera like Cordillera Executive Board (CEB), and the Cordillera
Regional Assembly (CRA) …
While “Igorot” and “Cordilleran” are both geographical words, the latter
appealed to many because of its unadulterated meaning and history. It is
also favored over its ethnic neutrality, making it more inclusive to all residents
of the Cordillera Central regardless of their ethnicity. The aspiration for
regional autonomy was successfully lobbied with the Constitutional
Commission and was included in Section 4 of Article X of the Philippine
Constitution. At the same time, the Aquino government entered into a
peace agreement (sipat) with Conrado Balweg’s CPLA. Thereafter, Executive
Order No. 220 was signed on July 15, 1987, (celebrated each year as Cordillera Day – a
special holiday for the region) establishing … Cordillera Administrative Region ( CAR),
effectively removing the provinces from regions I and II.
While the colonial masters and some of the Filipinos who were misled and
miseducated used the term “Igorot” as a tool for non-recognition and
misrecognition resulting in discriminatory policies and actions, the post-colonial
generations of the Igorots reinvented the term to become a badge of pride
symbolizing their ancestors’ successful resistance to foreign domination and the
colonizing policies of their national leaders. And for a more inclusive term to
embrace migrants, who, by self-ascription consider themselves as members of the
region, the term “Cordillera” and “Cordilleran” was promoted and is now generally
accepted.

REFLECTION:
Branding you want for your ethnolinguistic group and for your country

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