BAGUIO CITY — Malacañang has declared Sept. 13, 2023 as a special non-working holiday in the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) in commemoration of 37th Mount Data Peace agreement.
“It is but fitting and proper that the people of the Cordillera region be given full opportunity to participate in the occasion,” read Proclamation No. 324, declaring the holiday and signed by Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin.
The Mount Data Peace Agreement or “Sipat” was sealed on Sept. 13, 1986 when the Cordillera People’s Liberation Army (CPLA), led by former rebel priest-turned-government militia leader Fr. Conrado Balweg, met with then-president Corazon C. Aquino at the Mount Data Hotel in Bauko, Mountain Province.
Earlier on, Mr. Balweg and a few followers broke ranks with the New People’s Army on ideological differences, and formed the CPLA, which thereafter became a government adjunct force against the communist insurgency in the region. — Artemio A. Dumlao
