CORDILLERA PEOPLES ALLIANCE ELDERS WORK

Cordillera elders have played a remarkable role in the Cordillera people's struggle to defend ancestral land and resources, as resolutely shown in the successful oppositions to the Chico dams and Cellophil struggles in the 1970s. They continue to figure in the peacekeeping and conflict resolution among tribes. Their role as elders has not been limited to the issues concerning the communities such that they have formed inter-tribal, inter-municipal, and inter-provincial organizations, responding to burning issues affecting the region and the country today.

On December 6-7, 2006, the Cordillera Peoples Alliance sponsored a region-wide Cordillera Elders Congress in Baguio City which led to the establishment of the Cordillera Elders Alliance (CEA). CEA is composed of elders organizations and individuals throughout the region, which include the Binodngan Pongors Organization (BPO) in Kalinga and Bontoc provinces, the Movement for the Advancement of Inter-Tribal Unity and Development (MAITUD) in Mountain Province, the Abra Binodngan Elders Assembly (ABEA) in the province of Abra, the Metro-Baguio Tribal Elders and Leaders Assembly (MBTELA) in Baguio City, and the Am-a ya In-a ay Mannakem id AMPIS (AM-IN) in the provinces of Abra, Mountain Province and Ilocos Sur.

Prior to the formation of the Cordillera Elders Alliance, elders in the Cordillera have already been organized through the efforts of the Cordillera Peoples Alliance's Regional Elders Desk which coordinated and strengthened support to the fast-growing involvement of progressive tribal elders and leaders in the region, in the framework of the campaign against national oppression and the campaign for the defense of land, life and resources, and overall struggle of the Filipino people. The Elders Desk ensured the implementation and coordination of various elders' activities in the region.

The Cordillera Elders Alliance mediates and facilitates in the resolution of conflicts between tribes. Conflicts can only be resolved with the cooperation and efforts to keep peace among the concerned tribes themselves, such that progressive tribal leaders and elders affirm the unity and bond of binodngan communities (indigenous communities practicing the bodong or peace pact); that conflict resolution should be carried out in peaceful and democratic means; that armed groups, such as the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), Philippine National Police (PNP), and even the New People's Army (NPA) be excluded in the provision or pagta of the bodong; and that the bodong be developed into one that is multi-lateral, as the bodong traditionally takes place between two tribes.

The bodong should also be developed for it to be responsive for the broader unity and welfare of the Filipino people. Tribes must be united against a common enemy, that is, the entities that exploit indigenous peoples' lands and resources.