Overview: The Local Government Units and Government Agencies and NGOs under the Center for Development Programs in the Cordillera (CDPC) held a Consultation on alternative development and good governance with the theme “Salakniban ken Padur-asen ti Daga a Nagtaudan para ti Masakbayan”.  This was conducted last February 8-10, 2014 at the Highland Villa in Baguio City.  The results of the consultation proved once again that genuine development and good governance can only come from the people.

The two-day consultation brought representatives from various people’s organizations, government agencies, and individuals from Benguet, Abra, Kalinga, Apayao, Mountain Province and Baguio City to discuss pertinent issues on development and good governance in the Cordillera region.  It had the goal of gathering the various experiences of the people and the government in development work and governance. A highlight of the consultation was the holding of discussion-workshops on the Cordillera People’s Mass Movement, on Genuine Regional Autonomy, Governance mechanisms of Indigenous Peoples, and the development framework of the people’s democratic mass movement.

This consultation was initiated by CDPC and Cordillera People’s Alliance (CPA) with support from the Province of East Flanders and New World, Belgium.

Highlights: Mr. Benedict Solang of the Center for Development Programs in the Cordillera (CDPC) shared the experience and perspective of activist NGOs (Non-Government Organizations) and POs (People’s Organizations) on alternative development work with their various initiatives to hold conferences and consultations through many years. Mr. Solang stressed in his presentation entitled “Summary of Cordillera Alternative Development Framework for Genuine Peoples’ Development and Continuing Program” that the key to effective genuine regional autonomy is to continue the struggle for self-determination. After Mr. Solang’s presentation, the summary of the achievements of the different NGOs followed, highlighting the different development work in areas of health, agriculture, women and children, and the urban poor. Last among the summary papers presented in the consultation was the summary of critiques on government projects namely CHARMP 2, KALAHI-CIDDS, and PAMANA. These critiques were based on the researches and actual experiences by the NGO’s, one of which is MRDC’s partnership with Department of Agriculture-CAR in the implementation of CHARMP2 project.   The partnership yielded many lessons which brought out the fact that these government projects stand in contradiction to the people-centered framework of development that has long been applied by activist NGOs. After the paper presentations, this was followed by the CPA’s update on the Cordillera People’s Movement. Mr. Santos Mero, Deputy Secretary General of the CPA, shared the wealth of the experience by the Cordillera indigenous people on their 40 years of struggle to defend and protect life, land and resources. Mero stated that it was during the Cordillera People’s Congress for National Liberation held at Bontoc in December 1970 that besides the three basic problems of Imperialism, Bureaucrat-capitalism, and Feudalism prevailing in the country, the indigenous people experience a distinct problem of national oppression. National oppression is the systemic oppression of Indigenous People (IPs) which can only be resolved through advancing the peoples’ movement against the 3 basic problems and for self-determination. He also shared that during the height of the martial law, 27 peoples organizations were established and formed the CPA in 1984 which aimed to struggle for the defense of ancestral domain and self-determination. Beverly Longid, national chairperson of the KATRIBU partylist, followed with a critique on IPRA/NCIP/FPIC. She stated the importance of people becoming more discerning of these policies which, on a superficial level, portray a seemingly pro-indigenous framework, but in essence promotes state capitalist interests.

The workshop groups shared a number of experiences by Non-Government Organizations and Peoples organizations, in tackling issues on development. In Kalinga province, the speaker presented its documentation of a road construction project in Nambaran which caused disunity among the people in the community. The workshop group shared the lack of FPIC by the government agency and the lack of transparency about the budget and how the road constructed was not the road stated in the program. In Kariktan, Conner, projects implemented by Kalahi had been exposed about issues of internal arrangements between selected people and the government, causing disagreements and confusion in the community. There were also testimonies of deceitful reports of supposed 100% construction of the farm to market road in Conner with a budget of P18 million but in truth was only finished up to 16%. In indigenous socio-political systems and representation, it was noted that IP representation in the government is questionable since the control of selection belongs to officials in power, never from the people’s choice. In terms of power and mandate, IP representatives in government are often unrecognized and are used to facilitate more and more destructive development projects in the region.

The third day opened with a discussion on Genuine Regional Autonomy (GRA) presented by Ms. Abigail Anongos, Secretary General of the CPA. She highlighted the necessity of more research and discussion on the national situation and policies that can supplement GRA. The scrapping of EO 220 was forwarded and called on in the formation of a new EO that would foster GRA.

The presentation of Deputy Eddy Couckyut of the Province of East Flanders in Belgium stressed the importance of supporting change through government and civil society organization partnerships. His presentation also sparked questions from the delegates.  One was from Maureen Loste of RECCORD (Regional Ecumenical Center in the Cordillera), about the access of social movements to government information in Belgium. To this, the deputy stated that the government of Belgium is transparent on the information it has. Every individual is free to access information, as long as the information secured will not be used to the people’s disadvantage. The deputy also shared experiences of the trade union in Belgium where they organize the people into different sectors such as peasants and workers so that their issues are well represented as they forward these to the national government. The Trade Union in Belgium also succeeded in establishing cooperatives that were able to counter monopolies such as in electricity.

Rhoda Dalang Rillera, Executive Director of Dinteg, provided input on their experience in their project entitled, “Enhancing Capacities of Indigenous Peoples on Human Rights Based Approach to Development".  The project was designed to strengthen the capacities of indigenous peoples in using the framework of the indigenous people’s rights-based approach in evaluating and formulating their own community development plans or Ancestral Domain Sustainable Development and Protection Plans.  Towards this end, the project engaged in capacity building among indigenous human rights leaders, development workers with a number of officials of local government units through focused group discussions, workshops, conferences/seminars and trainings.  These learning and sharing activities are expected to result in the formulation of articlecommunity-development plans which in turn shall form the substance of lobbying with the LGU for their support.  This project is being funded by the European Union and the Denmark government through the International Work Group of Indigenous Affairs.

Overall, the consultation was a success. It did not only present the achievements of mass loving NGOs and peoples organizations in the past but also forwarded new ventures and goals in the future without discounting the rich experience and stories of the people in the different parts of the region. This truly captures what real and genuine development and good governance is; that, it is collective and political. It is collective in ways that it builds its capacities and framework alongside the people and the community. It is political in its goal to address the root of the growing crises and problems in the region with the goal of achieving genuine regional autonomy and self-determined and sustainable development.