Central North
Luzon practically consists of the mountain range of the Philippine
Cordillera. The region is mostly inhabited by minority tribes
which until some decades ago used to conduct a fearfully savage
lifestyle including the practice of head hunting (for details
on the tribes, see chapter People).
In general,
for the Spanish as well as for the US colonizers, central north
Luzon was not a very interesting area for conquest. Not much economic
benefit could have been expected as the terrain always was considered
to have too many mountains.
However,
US missionaries were not afraid of the terrain. Anyway, they found
in the Cordillera an abundance of the raw material every missionary
needs to practice his profession: pagans. Most of the mountain
tribes in the Cordillera have meanwhile been christianized by
US missionaries, to the contrary of the many minority tribes on
Mindanao and Palawan which still have their animist religions.
Christianization
by the US missionaries made the minority tribes of the Cordillera
safe for visits by foreign tourists. The tribes primarily visited
by tourists are the Ifugaos and the Bontocs, for rice terraces
as well as to see the native or at least halfnative lifestyle
still conducted in the tribes' villages.
However,
even as religious practices are no longer a threat to outsiders
traveling the Cordillera, political turmoil has created new hazards.
Whereas before, economic exploitation was unimportant as a lowlander's
motif for coming to the Cordillera, new technologies after WWII
changed this situation. International mining companies as well
as logging firms discovered in the last few decades the fortunes
which could be made in the Cordillera. Often with unsound methods,
the companies planning to exploit the Cordillera's natural resources
got possession of wide ancestral areas of the mountain tribes
who where all of a sudden deprived of the opportunity to conduct
their lives in traditional ways. As one example may be cited the
case of the Celophil company of Marcos crony Herminio Desini which
held logging concessions for some 200,000 hectares (772sqmi) of
forests and ancestral lands in the Cordillera. The concession
was issued in 1972 for a supposed period of 25 years. Because
of this government grant, the natives were declared illegal occupants
of their ancestral lands and were prohibited free access to their
communal forests. Celophil stopped operations in 1984.
Another project
which was planned to be carried out with disregard to the interests
of the mountain tribes was the construction of a dam on the Chico
river for a hydroelectric power plant.
The sudden
economic interventions in the Cordillera stirred dissatisfaction
among the tribal people who therefore were very willing to join
the NPA to fight for their interests. To stop the construction
of the Chico dam, tribesmen in 17 affected communities took up
arms. 8 dam workers and 9 military personnel were killed. After
these events, the World bank withdrew support and the dam construction
did not extend beyond some preliminary works.
The forces
of the rebellious movement were split after Cory Aquino came to
power. The most charismatic among the rebel leaders, the priest
Conrado Balweg opted for a negotiated solution to the problems
of the Cordillera people, and left the NPA together with many
of his followers. Balweg thereafter created his own organization,
the Cordillera Peoples Liberation Army in April, 1986. Some two
month later, on June 21, 1986, Balweg and his group were ambushed
by the NPA near Licauan, Abra province but he was not killed.
Balweg thereafter participated in several negotiations with the
Aquino administration for the creation of an autonomous Cordillera
region within the Philippine state.
Whereas the
Balweg group has not undertaken armed action against the government
anymore since Cory Aquino came to power, the still much larger
NPA in the Cordillera does continue ambushes and raids.
The US Peace
Corps in the early part of 1988 withdrew four workers from Sagada,
Mountain province, for their safety from the NPA. Also in Sagada,
9 government troopers were killed in an NPA ambush June 13, 1988.
Manila Bulletin,
Thur.June 20, 1991 (Banaue, Ifugao Article by Juan B. Dait Jr.)
"The chief
executive of this resort town has appealed to the national government
for immediate financial assistance in the rehabilitation of many
damaged irrigation systems which sustain the Ifugao rice terraces.
At the same
time, Mayor Abriol Chulipa said tourism will be greatly affected
if one of The Country 's major tourist attraction is neglected.
Chulipa said
that a number of rice terraces farmers have abandoned the cultivation
of the rice terraces due to lack of water. The irrigation canals
were heavily damaged during the July 16 killer earthquake.
One of these,
he said is the ancient irrigation system in Barangay Bangaan.
It has remained unrepaired resulting in the drying up of several
hectares of mountain ricelands.
The mayor
said many rice terraces farmers have turned to other pursuits
for their livelihood. Several farmers have gone to the goldmines
in Benguet and others have found work in infrastructure projects.
Oscar Fuentes, manager of the Banaue Hotel, said that if the rice
terraces are abandoned by the farmers, tourism in this area would
decline and adversely affect the economy of the people. Those
who are not farmers rely mainly on tourismrelated industries such
as woodcarving, weaving and basketry.
The Banaue
rice terraces, one of The Country 's major tourist attractions,
were declared as national treasures by then President Marcos.
Chulipa lamented
that the national government has not done anything to help the
local farmers here nor in maintaining the terraces."
