A plebiscite for the ratification of the organic act creating the Cordillera Autonomous Region was held on January 30, 1990, to ask if the voters in the Cordillera Administrative Region wanted to be an autonomous region under Republic Act No. 6766. The

Cordillera Administrative Region The Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR; ; ), also known as the Cordillera Region and Cordillera (), is an Regions of the Philippines, administrative region in the Philippines, situated within the island of Luzon. It is the only Landlocked co ...

(CAR) consists of the

provinces A province is an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outside Italy. The term ''provi ...

of Abra,

Benguet Benguet (), officially the Province of Benguet ('';'' ; ; ; ), is a landlocked Provinces of the Philippines, province of the Philippines located in the southern tip of the Cordillera Administrative Region in the island of Luzon. Its capital cit ...

Ifugao Ifugao, officially the Province of Ifugao (; ), is a landlocked province of the Philippines in the Cordillera Administrative Region in Luzon. Its capital is Lagawe and it borders Benguet to the west, Mountain Province to the north, Isabela t ...

Kalinga-Apayao Kalinga-Apayao () was a province of the Philippines in the Cordillera Administrative Region in the island of Luzon. It was formed, along with Benguet, Ifugao, and the new Mountain Province, from the earlier Mountain Province, with the passage ...

, and

Mountain Province Mountain Province (; ; ; ; ; ) is a landlocked province of the Philippines in the Cordillera Administrative Region in Luzon. Its capital is Bontoc while Bauko is the largest municipality. Mountain Province was formerly referred to as Mountain ...

, and the city of

Baguio Baguio ( , , ), officially the City of Baguio (; ; ), is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Cordillera Administrative Region, Philippines. It is known as the "Summer Capital of the Philippines", ...

. Only Ifugao voted in favor of autonomy, and a Supreme Court case later disallowed the creation of an autonomous region with just one province. This was the first attempt by the Cordillera autonomy movement to create an autonomous region after years of conflict by the

Cordillera People's Liberation Army The Cordillera People's Liberation Army (CPLA) was a militant organization based in the Cordillera region in the Philippines founded by Conrado Balweg. Background In 1979, the Itneg Catholic priest Conrado Balweg decided to join the New Peo ...

. A second plebiscite in 1998 resulted in

Apayao Apayao, officially the Province of Apayao (; ; isnag language, Isnag: ''Provinsia nga Apayao''; ), is a landlocked Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines in the Cordillera Administrative Region in Luzon. Kabugao, Apayao, Kab ...

(by then separated from Kalinga) voting for autonomy, and an establishment of an autonomous region still failed.

Background

A plebiscite was held concerning the establishment of an autonomous region in the Cordilleras on January 30, 1990 via ratification of Republic Act No. 6766, otherwise known as "An Act Providing for an Organic Act for the Cordillera Autonomous Region". Voters registered in the component localities of the

(

of Abra,

, and

, and the highly urbanized

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

, which is not included in any province) participating in the vote. As per law, only provinces (and Baguio) which voted in favor of the ratification of the law would constitute part of the new Cordillera Autonomous Region.

Campaign

In the run-up to the plebiscite, the

Baguio City Council The Baguio City Council () is Baguio's Sangguniang Panlungsod or legislative body. The council has 15 members which is composed of 12 councilors, one ''ex officio'' member elected from the ranks of barangay (neighborhood) chairmen, one ''ex off ...

and the

Benguet Provincial Board The Benguet Provincial Board is the Sangguniang Panlalawigan (provincial legislature) of the Philippine province of Benguet. The members are elected via plurality-at-large voting: the province is divided into two districts, the first sending four ...

both voted for the exclusion of their localities from the autonomous region due to what they described as "lopsided" tax-sharing system, where both Baguio and Benguet, the most prosperous places in the would-be autonomous region, be subsidizing the rest of the region.

Conrado Balweg Conrado Balweg (December 29, 1942 – December 31, 1999) was a former Filipino Catholic priest and rebel who was the founder of the Cordillera People's Liberation Army, a militant group which advocated autonomy for the Cordillera region in th ...

's group campaigned for a "no" vote in the plebiscite. Balweg said that the organic act is "a bogus law because what we fought for is not there."

Results

Initial results showed voters in five provinces and in Baguio rejecting autonomy, with only

favoring inclusion. Vice President

Salvador Laurel Salvador Roman Hidalgo Laurel (, November 18, 1928 – January 27, 2004), also known as Doy Laurel, was a Filipino people, Filipino lawyer and politician who served as the Vice President of the Philippines from 1986 to 1992 under President Cor ...

, who earlier predicted the rejection of the measure, said that the government should seriously consider switching to a

federal system Federalism is a mode of government that combines a general level of government (a central or federal government) with a regional level of sub-unit governments (e.g., provinces, states, cantons, territories, etc.), while dividing the powers o ...

, and that it, and the earlier rejection of autonomy in a Mindanao plebiscite is a significant victory for the

Nacionalista Party The Nacionalista Party (Filipino language, Filipino and Spanish language in the Philippines, Spanish: ''Partido Nacionalista''; , NP) is a political party in the Philippines which is the oldest existing party in the country and in Southeast Asi ...

. The

Commission on Elections An election commission is a body charged with overseeing the implementation of electioneering process of any country. The formal names of election commissions vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and may be styled an electoral commission, a c ...

(COMELEC) declared on February 14, 1990 that the plebiscite failed in Baguio and in all provinces except Ifugao. With the rejection being apparent, it was suggested to bring the question if establishing the Cordillera Autonomous Region with Ifugao as its sole component province to the COMELEC. According to Senator Aquilino Pimentel Jr., the rejection was based on lowlander settlers not considering themselves as Cordillerans, hence rejecting the law, while the highlander communities preferred the status quo. Analysts said that highlanders rejected the autonomy as they see the Act as a mere tool of the economic and political classes to perpetuate their exploitation, and that vested interests of politicians and multinational corporations would even "strengthen their dominion in the region".

Aftermath

The

issued a resolution on February 14, 1990 declaring that Ifugao shall form the Cordillera Autonomous Region. In March 1990, then-President

Corazon Aquino María Corazón "Cory" Sumulong Cojuangco-Aquino (; January 25, 1933 – August 1, 2009) was a Filipino politician who served as the 11th president of the Philippines and the first woman president in the country, from Presidency of Corazon ...

ordered for the reorganization of government offices in the impending creation of the Cordillera Autonomous Region, with Ifugao as the sole province. In December 1990, the

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

ruled that the constitution prohibited a single province constituting an autonomous region, so Ifugao was not made an autonomous region to itself, and returned to the Cordillera Administrative Region. Congress passed another law as an organic act for Cordillera autonomy in December 1997.> A second plebiscite a year later was resoundingly rejected, with only

(by then a separate province) voting for autonomy.

References

External links

Republic Act No. 6766
law creating the autonomous region *
Ordillo vs. COMELEC
', Supreme Court decision nullifying the law and the plebiscite {{DEFAULTSORT:Cordillera autonomy plebiscite, 1990 Regional plebiscites in the Philippines 1990 elections in the Philippines 1990 referendums Autonomy referendums Presidency of Corazon Aquino Elections in the Cordillera Administrative Region