Cordi

• Origins and Migrations:

  • Ibaloy came from nearby Pangasinan
  • Kankanaey of Benguet and Mountain Province, Bontoks, and Tingguians came from Ilocos
  • Isneg came from coastal Cagayan
  • Southern Apayao and Kalinga came from the lower Chico River in the border of Kalinga and Cagayan
• Mining activities explain the movement to Lepanto area and Itogon in pre-Spanish times

  • Others moved to the mountains of Cordillera as "runaways" to avoid Spanish rule
  • Some Tingguians in Abra, Kalinga and Ifugao in the east
• Economic Subsistence:

  • Wet rice agriculture
  • Dry farming
  • Mining
  • Highlander territories extended to the lowlands of today's Nueva Vizcaya, Cagayan, Isabela, Pangasinan, La Union, and Ilocos
  • Tribus Independientes - scattered as numerous and autonomous villages
• Colonialism, Resistance, and Naming (1600s-1898):

  • No systematic identification of ethnic groupings during the Spanish rule but scattered classification
  • Ferdinand Blumentritt listed 36 "tribes" of Northern Luzon, around 13 of which are found within the Cordillera
  • The Jesuit mission of Manila also came up with a list of 26 tribes in Northern Luzon, with around 10 from the Central Cordillera
• American paternalism, Administrative Grid, and Ethnic Classification (1898-1941):

  • Bureau of Non-Christian Tribes (BNCT) was organized to produce researches about the region and the people
  • Dean Worcester's classification prevailed over other categorizations
  • Non-Christian is not purely along religion but more cultural and historical, to refer to those who cling to their indigenous culture and refuse to submit to Spanish-American ways
• Admin grid and identity making:

  • Benguet was the first province to be organized under the new colonizers in 1900
  • Lepanto and Bontoc were merged in 1902
  • Kalinga-Apayao became a single province in 1907
  • Mountain Province was established in 1908
• Post-war Identity struggle and the 1966 Division (1950s-1970):

  • First Igorot was appointed as Governor of Mountain Province (Dr. Hilary Pitapit Clapp)
  • Cultural Minorities was introduced as an official state label of what used to be Non-Christians
  • Congressman Louis Hora in 1958 filed a bill in congress prohibiting the use of Igorot in printed materials
• 1966 Division:

  • Sub-divided into 4 new provinces in 1908: Benguet, Ifugao, Kalinga-Apayao, New Mountain Province
  • PD No. 1 of 1972 placed Ifugao and Kalinga-Apayao under Region II and Benguet and Mountain Province under Region I
• Opposition to Dam and Logging and Revival of Igorot Consciousness (1970s-1983):

  • Chico River runs through Mountain Province and Kalinga
  • Presidential Assistant on National Minorities (PANAMIN)
  • Cordillera, EO 220, Regional Autonomy, and the Inclusion of Abra (1983-1987):
  • Executive Order No. 220 was signed on July 15, 1987 establishing a transition regional set up called Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR)
  • The aspiration for a regional autonomy was successfully lobbied with the Constitutional Commission and was included in Section 14 of Article X of the Philippine Constitution
• IPRA and ethnicity:

  • Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Administrative Order No. 2 (DAO 2) of 1992
  • Indigenous Peoples Rights Act (IPRA) 1997 granted a collective right to land through the Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title (CADT) and individual rights through the Certificate of Ancestral Land Title (CALT)
  • National Commission for Indigenous People (NCIP) oversee the affairs of the IPs