It was almost forgotten, if not lost in time. It is not even red on the calendar. If not for the announcement from Malacanang declaring it a non-working holiday; many, including our public officials, would not have been aware of the 38th year of the Mount Data “Sipat” and what it is all about.
I remember the date as it coincides with the birthdays of my wife, President BBM, and the late Ramon “Mondax” Santa Dacawi, until it became the anniversary of the Mount Data Peace Accord, a still ambiguous deal that took place on the 13th day of September in 1986 at a hotel in Bauko, Mountain Province.
A “sipat” between two opposing parties is completed after the “allasiw”, a customary practice of exchanging tokens. Strictly, the deal should be in accordance with genuine tribal rituals leading to a “bodong”, an alternative system of conflict resolution, of course performed only in the “binodngan” areas of Kalinga, Abra, and parts of Mountain Province.
In the case of the Mount Data peace deal, this was performed by Tita Cory’s government and the now-defunct Cordillera People’s Liberation Army (CPLA). Here, then-President Cory Aquino received a Kalinga spear and shield from then rebel priest Conrado “Ka Ambo” Balweg and Ama Yag-ao, a Kalinga elder.
In turn, Cory Aquino, along with Gen. Fidel V. Ramos, who was then the Philippine Constabulary chief, and Senator Juan Ponce Enrile, gave Ka Ambo an M-16 armalite rifle, and a rosary to Kalinga elder Ama Yag-ao.
Cordillera Bodong Association representative Lourdes Limmayog was given a Bible, which is now in the possession of her son Atty. Jose A. Limmayog Jr, former National Bureau of Investigation Director and former mayor of Sadanga, Mountain Province.
Tokens changed hands to signify friendship between the new Aquino government and the CPLA. The agreement between the two parties has also been called the 1986 Mount Data “Sipat.” However symbolic, certain quarters in the region criticized the exchange as a passing deal that mocked a sacred Cordillera ritual.
Prior to the September 13, 1986 agreement, the Lumbaya Company of Mailed Molina and Conrado “Ka Ambo” Balweg, along with 129 of their foot soldiers, broke away from the Communist Party of the Philippines – National Democratic Front – New People’s Army (CPP-NDF-NPA), and created the CPLA along with priest-turned-rebel Bruno Ortega.
The Mt. Data Peace Accord led to the issuance of EO 220 by Tita Cory on July 15, 1987, eventually creating the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) consisting of the provinces of Abra, Kalinga-Apayao, Mountain Province, Ifugao, Benguet, and Baguio City.
Fast forward to 2010 and 24 years later, President Noynoy Aquino, through the Office of the Presidential Assistant for Peace Process (OPAPP), used the Mt. Data Peace Accord as the main reason to complete a ceasefire and cessation of hostilities between the CBA-CPLA and government troops.
A series of dialogues followed which then led to the signing of a MOA in 2011 by CPLA representatives, the DILG and OPAPP officials entitled “Final Disposition of Arms and Forces of the CBA-CPLA and its Transformation into a Potent Socio-economic Unarmed Force.”
The MOA was actually a closure agreement and culmination of the 1986 Mt. Data “Sipat” that had five components aimed at pursuing lasting peace in the Cordillera and accelerating progress and development in the region.
The 2011 MOA included a component for economic reintegration, employment and livelihood projects for CPLA members as a step towards disarmament; be enlisted with the Philippine Army, and become forest guards under the DENR.
In addition, PNoy’s administration allocated more than P220 million for 81 community development infrastructure projects that were fully completed in the six provinces, but the livelihood component for 408 beneficiaries never materialized.
Although good news and rosy pictures were presented by government peace promoters as a result of the 1986 “Sipat,” police records showed otherwise. The reports exposed proof that the “allasiw” performed by Tita Cory and Balweg did not end armed struggle in the Cordillera.
Despite billions of government money poured into communities in the name of peace and progress after the Mt. Data Peace Accord, a pointless armed conflict continued to kill innocent civilians, policemen, government soldiers, and rebels.
From September of 1986 up to this time, there have been hundreds, maybe thousands of reported and unreported armed encounters between and among former CPLA members, the NPA, private armed groups, and government troops. What a price to pay.
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What is that talk on soc-med about “bribing the media?” This should be no cause for alarm, but I assessed it as an unfounded accusation by one who has never gone through the genuine experiences of being in the media, whether in a newspaper, radio and TV. In short, the accuser is a fake and uses a fake name, trying hard to masquerade as a media person.
I have not read the article as it was already taken down, although friends in the trade told me a little info about it. If I saw it, surely my instincts would have told me to scroll down for more important and useful content, such as short videos that make me laugh and relieve me from the day’s stress.
Such issues on soc-med tell us that this early, the political season is on. Here, certain political wannabes are employing shady attempts to launch scud missiles directed against their would-be opponents. At the same time, they organize media awards projects which, of course, have a hidden goal aside from what is seen on the surface.
What I can say is that as independent journalists, it is obligatory that we police ourselves. Agreeing to cover the events of a politician and accepting his or her invitation to wine and dine does not justify a pseudo-journalist to accuse another of being bribed. It is really up to a working media person if he or she wants to be used.
The issue of being bribed, used or “owned” by a public servant has to be individually responded to by members of the media. I see this as something personal as only he or she knows what. That is why.
On the other hand, government programs that assist the public, including media persons who are qualified to avail of such, are not bribes as these are distributed by a government agency tasked to implement such a program. Unless the goods are personally handed out by a politician like the one we know in Benguet.
