Only true Cordillerans Celebrate Cordillera Day

April 27, 2022 Provincial

I saw posts on Facebook of cohorts of the CPP-NPANDF inviting social media users to join their so-called 38th Cordillera Day celebration on April 24.
Then I asked myself, how could this date be Cordillera Day? I know for a fact that Cordillera Day is celebrated 4.5K fingerlings pinakawalan sa ilog ng Dagupan every 15th of July because of the signing of EO 220 in 1987 by former President Corazon Aquino that created the Cordillera Administrative Region.
Then it came to mind that around this time in 2020, the late Mayor Gabino Ganggangan of Sadanga, Mountain Province made exposés on the CPP-allied organization Cordillera People’s Alliance that has been claiming to champion the rights of Cordilleran Indigenous Peoples to ride on with their plight for self-determination but using the IPs to raise a crowd that they can mobilize in pushing for the agenda of the CPP, which is to overthrow the government.
I recalled how the good Mayor exposed the links of the CPA and how its leaders are deeply rooted and involved with the CPP-NPA. The mayor fearlessly condemned the CPA and the CPP for misrepresenting the Cordillerans by using them to solicit assistance from donors abroad, hence, projecting the Cordillerans as beggars. Infuriated by this, Mayor Ganggangan called out the CPA to stop monopolizing representation of the Cordillerans and injecting their agenda into the region’s history, committing the very allegation of historical revisionism that the CTG has been accusing of the government.
The mayor has passed but his strong advocacy for the Cordillerans to fight for their plight should not be sidelined. Let us not allow the CPA and its blind followers to insist on changing or even meddling with our history to cloak their works to support the terrorist CPP-NPA NDF.
While the CPA or the CPP-NPA-NDF rather celebrate their version of Cordillera Day, may the true-blooded Cordillerans rise and assert genuine representation, take bold action to stop the cohorts of this terrorist group from further tarnishing our culture, tradition, and identity. Because only true Cordillerans can credibly fight for genuine Cordilleran interests.
Ma. Louisa Foligan