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After the exchange of letters between Vice President Laurel and Fr. Conrado Balweg, a series of preliminary peace talks between presidential emissary Agapito “Butch” Aquino and members and leaders of the Cordillera Bodong Association (CBA) and CPLA were held in Sadanga, Mountain Province and Tinglayan, Kalinga.
On September 13th at the Mt. Data Hotel at Mt. Data, Bauko, Mountain Province, a Sipat (first step towards peace talks) was performed between the CPLA and the Republic of the Philippines. During the Sipat the CBA/CPLA and a newly organized organization, the Montanosa National Solidarity (MNS) presented to President Aquino a paper entitled “ Towards the Solution of the Cordillera Problem: A Statement of Position”. This paper outlined the root of the Cordillera problem and contained 26 specific demands that touched on political, social, economic, cultural, military, police and foreign relations matters. These demands, according to the paper, if addressed, would end the armed struggle and usher in peace in the Cordilleras. The President committed to have the demands tackled formally during the peace talk. Demand No. 1 is the recognition by the National Government of the autonomy of the various ethnolinguistic groups in the Cordilleras. Demand No. 4 is for National Government to guarantee the independence and freedom of the Cordillera Nation in preserving, consolidating and developing the socialist way of life and moral order indigenous to its homelands. Demand No. 6 is for the National Government to set up a Federal Republic of the Philippines that allows the existence within the framework of autonomous and co-equal states, including a Cordillera Autonomous Socialist State. During the Sipat the New Armed Forces of the Philippines and the CPLA entered into an agreement for a cessation of hostilities.***By Fernando D Bahatan Jr
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