Celebration and resistance: Images from Cordillera Day 2011

Text and Photos By JEFFREY OCAMPO
Bulatlat.com

LACUB, Abra — An annual event that started in 1985, the Cordillera Day is both a celebration of the rich culture and a form of collective resistance of the Cordilleran people against large-scale mining, militarization, and human-rights violations. Held in the remote village of Buneg, the event was attended by more than 4,500 delegates not just from the Cordillera but from various regions across the country and the international community.

The centerpiece of the Cordillera Day has always been the struggle for ancestral domain and right to self-determination. On its 27th year, the event highlighted the “historic resistance” of the Tinggians against the Cellophil Resources Corporation which operated in Abra under Marcos government.