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From the Philippine Information Agency

A memorial peace shrine built by the Kalinga Peace Makers Movement at the Tabuk Pastoral Center (TPC) here was unveiled on March 15 with Governor Floydelia Diasen and City Mayor Camilo Lammawin Jr. leading the wreath laying at the foot of the marker.

It was dedicated to those who sacrificed their lives in the name of service for the people of Kalinga, particularly the four Catholic priests killed in recent years and those victims of violence.

The inscription at the peace shrine reads: “In memory of Rev. Fathers Conrado Aquino, Elias Bareng, Leo Vande Winkel, all CICM priests and Franciscus Madhu, SVD and all those who sacrificed their lives due to tribal or criminal violence. May the blood they shed be the seed of lasting peace in Kalinga.”
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From Sunstar Baguio we learn that Corazon Cortel-Balweg, widow of former rebel priest Conrado Balweg died of a heart attack last Monday. She is survived by five children the youngest of whom is still in elementary school. Our condolences to her family.

Sunstar Baguio:

Corazon Cortel-Balweg, a New People’s Army (NPA) active amazon in the 1980s and widow of rebel priest Conrado Balweg, died Monday afternoon of cardiac arrest at Camp Upi in Gamu, Isabela.

Corazon, 48, and her group were on their way to the Philippine Army’s (PA) 5th Infantry Division camp to follow up and monitor livelihood programs for members of the Cordillera Peoples Liberation Army (CPLA) when she felt heart pains then collapsed.

Mrs. Balweg is the CPLA’s chief of staff, a position she held since the assassination of the rebel priest in his hometown in Malibcong, Abra on December 31, 1999.

Former Bucloc, Abra mayor Mailed Molina, the incumbent CPLA chairman, confirmed the death of Mrs. Balweg after receiving a call from Major General Melchor Dilodilo, commander of the 5th ID in Gamu.

Colonel James Jacob of Camp Upi in a text message said Mrs. Balweg died at 5:30 p.m. Monday.
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I first thought of just adding this to the quick links I posted earlier but then thought that maybe it needs a post of its own.

I think the Japanese tend to have a longer memory than Filipinos so it’s good that they continue to remind us of the lessons of the past. In the GMA News article which you will find below, two Japanese women went to Kiangan, Ifugao to apologize in behalf of some Japanese soldiers for the horrors of World War II.

I’m sure you’ll agree that apologies like these are welcome. Still, in addition to these individual apologies, the Japanese government should also apologize for forcing women to become sex slaves during the war. It’s refusal to apologize on this matter continues to be a thorn in Japan’s otherwise good relations with the Philippines as well as other parts of Asia.

Anyways, in case you missed our earlier posts on the heroism of our people during the second World War, here are the links: Those Gallant Igorots; A Video Documentary; Those Gallant Igorots: A Word From the Producers; and Major Dennis Molintas.

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The police is hunting for the suspected mastermind and his alipores according to this latest report from the Philippine Star via ABS-CBN:

BONTOC, Mt. Province – Police vowed to arrest the mastermind and three other suspects in the Christmas Day murder of the mayor of Paracelis town within the month.

Being hunted down for the killing of Mayor Ceasar Rafael are Anonat barangay chairman Rommel “Borbon” Ambatali, the suspected mastermind and alleged leader of a criminal syndicate involved in kidnappings for ransom, robberies in band, illegal possession of firearms, murders and cattle rustling in Nueva Vizcaya and Isabela; Anonat barangay kagawad Danny Agabao, and brothers Tony and Orland Gumbi.

Last week, Ambatali and his six henchmen were formally charged for the Rafael killing after two suspects – Bong Felix, 34, and Rene Yadao, 32 – gave themselves up to police and claimed that they served as lookouts.

The two tagged Ambatali as the mastermind who paid them P5,000 for the hit job.
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From Time Magazine/August 13, 1945

In the steep Caraballo Mountains of northern Luzon, a battalion of the 127th Infantry Regiment last week came upon a vast road block—a chasm blasted by retreating Japs.

A battalion commander, Lieut. Colonel Powell A. Fraser, had his jeeps dismantled, called for native bearers. Scores of volunteers—sturdy, brown-bodied Igorot women —eagerly picked up wheels, engines and other parts, carried them along paths which at one point soared 2,000 feet above the road. On the other side of the chasm the jeeps were reassembled, and Fraser’s men sped after the Japs. The Igorot women stayed behind to help the engineers rebuild the road.

Related Posts:
It Was Also a Women’s War
Those Gallant Igorots

The Abra police, led by Supt. Alexander Pumecha, is still investigating the matter but those hurt in the blast are now recuperating. According to one of the victims, whatever caused the explosion may have been presented (disguised?) as a gift to the Luna family.

Read our earlier posts here and here.

VIDEO CREDIT: GMANews.tv

Here’s the latest updates on the killing of Mayor Cesar Rafael of Paracelis, Mt. Province. Read our first post here.

This could very well be the first politically-motivated killing in Mt. Province. It is, of course, shocking that it happened but that it happened in Paracelis is not that shocking. The town has a reputation as the province’s “wild east”; it’s kind of like Abra in terms of its brand of politics and in the possibility that violence, which brews unseen, could burst out to the surface.

Still, there is no excuse for murders like this. Our condolences to the mayor’s family and we hope that his killers are brought to justice.

Here’s an Inquirer story by Frank Cimatu and Desiree Caluza:

The killers of Mayor Cesar Rafael of Paracelis, Mt. Province, fired at least 60 bullets into his car that shattered parts of his body.

Residents who saw Rafael’s body at the Paracelis District Hospital in Barangay Poblacion in the town described what was done to the mayor as a “desecration.”

“His eyes and ears were blown off. His arm was almost torn off,” a Paracelis resident said through a text message. “This could only be done by an outsider. Anyone who truly knows the mayor would not have done this,” the resident said.

Rafael was driving his Toyota Hilux and had just left his farm in Barangay Palitod in Paracelis when he was attacked between 12 and 1 p.m. on Tuesday, police said.
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