LA TRINIDAD, Benguet – Workers and officials from various government line agencies and representatives from other civilian as well as non-governmental organizations marched from the Benguet Provincial Capitol Grounds to Wangal Sports Complex here to mark the 30th anniversary of the Cordillera Administrative Region as a regional political administrative entity.
The occasion was dubbed “CAR @ 30, A celebration of Cordillera Unity.”
On July 15, 1987, 30 years ago, under the Executive Order 220 of then President Corazon Aquino, the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) was established composed of Mountain Province, Benguet, Ifugao, Abra and Kalinga-Apayao (which were one province at that time until they are separated in two on July 14, 1995).
CAR stood as a special region embracing the six provinces and two cities, Baguio and Tabuk.
Prior to the creation of the region the provinces of Benguet, Mountain Province and Abra belonged to Region 1 with Ilocos Norte and Sur, Pangasinan and La Union, while the provinces of Ifugao and Kalinga-Apayao were included in Region 2 along with the rest of the provinces in Cagayan Valley.
National Commission on Culture and Arts (NCCA) Executive Director Rico Pableo Jr., as guest speaker, challenged the government officials and all the people who participated in the celebration to strengthen Cordillera culture.
He spelled out CAR as COMMITMENT if the Cordillerans want to pursue their dreams; ADAPT where there is a need to be flexible to changing times and make effort to reach out to the millennials and RATIONALIZE where Cordillerans should believe and work hard for what they desire for their region.