Claim: The majority of Cordillera voters did not want it to be an autonomous region because of the effect on their families and the possibility of terrorism; Apayao. the least-densely populated province in the Philippines which was partitioned to serve the needs of the individual ethnic groups,voted for autonomy but was not perfmitted to have an autonomous region of just one province.
Evidence: With a population of 119,184 (as of the 2015 census) covering an area of 4,413.35 square kilometres (1,704.00 sq mi), Apayao is the least densely-populated province in the Philippines. Majority of Cordillera voters rejected the plan to be an autonomous region. For them, it will affect their families, livelihood, and cause terrorism due to Conrado Balweg and the New People's Army (NPA). Only Apayao voted for autonomy, but due to the Supreme Court decision in 1990 disallowing an autonomous region composed of only one province, the autonomous region was not created. Finally, on February 14, 1995, Kalinga-Apayao was split into two independent provinces with the passage of Republic Act No.