Autonomy and Indigenous self-government

Cordillera self-government: current status

Where the question stood on 22 September 2026: the Cordillera remains administered as a region, not a fully autonomous region.

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Status verified as of 22 September 2026. Political positions change; this explainer describes the documented position on that date.

Current position

The Cordillera remains administered as the Cordillera Administrative Region rather than the fully autonomous region envisaged by the 1987 Constitution, after both the 1990 and 1998 autonomy plebiscites failed to secure the required multi-province support.[1]

Sources for this page

Each number marks a specific claim. Notes give the source, its locator and how it relates to the claim.

  1. 1.

    Claim: In the 7 March 1998 Cordillera autonomy plebiscite, only Apayao province voted in favour of autonomy; because this again did not satisfy the multi-province threshold established by the 1990 Supreme Court ruling, the autonomous region was again not created, and the Cordillera has continued to be administered as the Cordillera Administrative Region rather than a fully autonomous region.

    • 1998 Cordillera autonomy plebiscite (Wikipedia) link, Result and outcome. Source record

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