Cordillera autonomy movement

Two plebiscites (1990 and 1998) were conducted in the Cordillera to legalize the autonomous status of the area where majority of the voters rejected autonomy.

During the Spanish colonial era, the Spaniards referred to the inhabitants of the Cordilleras as the Ygorrotes or the Igorots while the Americans starting 1908 have governed the area as part of a single locality called as the Mountain Province.

The armed Cordillera struggle was derived from the communist rebellion in the Philippines during the regime of President Ferdinand Marcos.

The CPLA advocated utilization and stewardship of lands by communes as opposed to private proprietorship and the direct democracy through village assemblies and council of elders.

They also proposed the conversion of the country into a federal republic as an alternative with each state having co-equal status.

[12] A closure agreement between the CPLA and the Government of the Philippines was signed on July 4, 2011 at the Rizal Hall in Malacañan Palace.

[13] While the group has stopped armed confrontation, the CPLA remain extant as of 2013 still campaigning for greater autonomy in the Cordilleras with about 1,000 members.

[12][17][18][19] It was also the first time in history that all provincial and city governments throughout the Cordilleras supported Cordilleran autonomy.

[22] A declaration to expressed support for the establishment of the Autonomous Region of the Cordillera (ARC) as part of the President Rodrigo Duterte-led process of shifting the form of governance of the Philippines to federalism from the presidential setup to federalism was signed on April 24, 2017 by about 200 local officials, tribal leaders, and civil society organizations at Mount Datu.