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Philippines Regional Autonomy
By the 1990s, Philippine nationalism had not fully penetrated
two regions of the country inhabited by national minorities: the
Muslim parts of Mindanao and the tribal highlands of northern
Luzon. Some Muslims and hill tribespeople did not consider
themselves Filipinos, although they were citizens. Muslim
separatism has a very long history. The Spaniards, Americans, and
Japanese all had difficulty integrating the fiercely independent
Moros into the national polity, and independent governments in
Manila since 1946 have fared little better
(see Marcos and the Road to Martial Law, 1965-72
, ch. 1). The Moro insurgency has
waxed and waned but never gone away. Enough Muslims participated
in the 1987 elections to elect two of the twenty-four senators,
but continuing land disputes were major factors preventing
reconciliation between Christians and Muslims in Mindanao. The
grievances of tribal groups, such as the Ifugao and Igorot, in
northern Luzon were of more recent origin, having been stoked by
ill-considered Marcos administration dam-building schemes that
entailed flooding valleys in the northern Luzon cordillera where
the tribal groups lived. When Aquino came to power, she was
confronted with a Moro National Liberation Front demand for
separation from the Philippines, and a Cordillera People's
Liberation Army allied with the New People's Army. Aquino boldly
negotiated a cease-fire with the Moro National Liberation Front,
and her constitutional commissioners provided for the creation of
autonomous regions in Muslim parts of Mindanao and tribal regions
of northern Luzon
(see The Moros
, ch. 5).
Article 10 of the Constitution directed Congress to pass
within eighteen months organic acts creating autonomous regions,
providing that those regions would be composed only of provinces,
cities, and geographic areas voting to be included in an
autonomous region. Congress passed a bill establishing the
Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao with Cotabato City
designated as the seat of government, and Aquino signed it into
law on August 1, 1989. The required plebiscite was set for
November 19, 1989, in thirteen provinces in Mindanao and the
island groups stretching toward Borneo. The plebiscite campaign
was marred by violence, including bombings and attacks by rebels.
Aquino flew to Cotabato on November 6, 1990, to formally
inaugurate the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. She had
already signed executive orders devolving to the Autonomous
Region in Muslim Mindanao the powers of seven cabinet
departments: local government; labor and employment; science and
technology; public works and highways; social welfare and
development; tourism; and environment and natural resources.
Control of national security, foreign relations, and other
significant matters remained with the national government.
Because many of the provinces to be included actually had
Christian majorities, and because the Moro National Liberation
Front, dissatisfied with what it perceived to be the limitations
of the new law, urged a boycott, only four provinces (Tawitawi,
Sulu, Maguindanao, and Lanao del Sur) elected to join the
Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. Cotabato City itself voted
not to join. So, a new capital had to be identified. In 1991
Maranaos, Maguindanaos, and Tausugs were disputing where the
capital should be
(see
fig. 3). Indications were that the
government of the autonomous region would not have supervisory
power over local government officials.
Congress passed a similar law creating a Cordillera
Autonomous Region, but in a referendum held in five provinces
(Abra, Benguet, Mountain, Kalinga-Apayao, and Ifugao) on January
29, 1990, autonomy failed in all provinces except Ifugao. The
reasons for rejection were thought to be fear of the unknown and
campaigning for a no vote by mining companies that feared higher
taxation. In 1991 the Supreme Court voided the Cordillera
Autonomous Region, saying that Congress never intended that a
single province could constitute an autonomous region.
Data as of June 1991
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