The Cordillera Review Volume 4, Issue 2

THE CORDILLERA REVIEW
Journal of Philippine Culture and Society
Volume 4, Number 2 September 2012
Contents
STEPHEN GRIFFITHS
SCOTT MAGKACHI SABOY
Ullalim,
P. BION GRIFFIN
AGNES ESTIOKO-GRIFFIN
IVAN EMIL A. LABAYNE
Si Amapola sa 65 na Kabanata

THE CORDILLERA REVIEW
Journal of Philippine Culture and Society
BOARD Of EDITORS
DELFIN TOLENTINO, JR., Editor-in-Chief
NARCISA P. CANILAO, Associate Editor
ALIPIO T. GARCIA, Associate Editor
ANNA CHRISTIE V. TORRES, Associate Editor
SANTOS JOSE O. DACANAY III, Managing Editor
Simon Tuguinay prepares the ritual paraphernalia to be used in the
dawat di bagol, a ritual performed during the rice harvest season in the village
of Bayninan in Kiangan, Ifugao. The ritual is held to elevate a mumbaki (native
shaman) to the higher order of mumbagol, a performer of the high prestige
rituals in Ifugao society. Photograph by Analyn Salvador-Amores, 2014.
Cordillera Studies Center
UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES BAGUIO
UP Drive, 2600 Baguio City, Philippines
telefax: (6374) 442-5794
e-mail: cordillerareview.upbaguio@up.edu.ph
website: www.upb.edu.ph/~csc
Copyright © 2012 by Cordillera Studies Center, University of the Philippines
Baguio
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in
a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written
permission of the Publisher.

The Centrality of Arrow Crafting and Hunting
in the Agta Way-of-Life
P. BION GRIFFIN
AGNES ESTIOKO-GRIFFIN
The Agta hunters-gatherers, or foragers, an ethno-linguistic
society living in northeastern Luzon have until recently focused
much of their identity and way-of-life on their bow and arrow
complex. Their sophisticated arrow technology enabled them
to successfully exploit the forests and littoral zones of the Sierra
Madre range of mountains, to gain their own subsistence in wild
game and to provision scattered lowland farmers. The bow and
arrow complex is described as it existed until late in the twentieth
century.
Keywords: Agta hunters-gatherers, Sierra Madre, Northeast Luzon,
bows, arrows, Isabela, Cagayan
Agta arrow crafting may be seen as a critical and central focus
in the way Agta choose to live in their social and natural worlds.
not succeed in gaining the animal protein needed for their own
sustenance nor in acquiring the provisions from non-Agta actors in
their social world. A dominant focus in obtaining, consuming and
exchanging meat comes from how arrows are fabricated, where the
raw materials come from, and how both the social relations internal
to the residential group and the exchange partners are structured.
Agta may be seen as crafting their subsistence, organizational, and
value systems through arrows. With the 21st century changes in the
Indeed, looking at arrows back to early photographs and to Agta
conversations about the oldest days suggests the crafting of the
adjustment.
This paper presents data on the “traditional” material culture

66 The Cordillera Review
anthropologists who were guests of various Agta families between
1972 and 1995. 1 The bulk of our discussion of Agta material culture
is drawn from the intensive research in coastal Cagayan and up the
Nanadukan and Malibu (Ilang) Rivers. Visits were made to kinrelated
Agta in upriver Peñablanca, Cagayan. Comparative notes are
from the 1974-1976 research among Agta host families far upriver
of Palanan Centro, Isabela. Some material is drawn from visits to
the remoter rivers of San Mariano and San Guillermo, Isabela. Bion
hosts for approximately four years between 1972 and 1995. Aside
from long-term research stints, nearly yearly visits among Agta
friends rounded out our stays. 2
Map of Agta Territory.

Centrality of Arrow Crafting
67
sweet potatoes, cassava and others. Many gathered forest products
for sale: orchids, rattan, tree resin, honey, and more. Those who
goods to and from the Cagayan Valley. The Palanan Agta, who are
Pahanan speakers (the indigenous local farmers spoke Paranan, a
similar dialect), 3 are among the most settled and in closest residential
proximity to non-Agta farmers. They have ready access to the Centro
where goods are available. They have experienced strong pressures
disfavoring hunting and mobility for many years. The upriver Agta,
who we have termed the Ihaya or Ebukid 4 Agta in earlier writings,
resided at Pagsanghan and upriver, as well as on the western side of
the mountains north and south of the Diwago river. Some could be
grouped with Casiguran Agta of Aurora Province. These Agta were
the “most traditional” hunter-gatherers among whom we lived.
North in Cagayan, along the Malibu (Ilang) and Nanadukan Rivers,
in that they were the most successful horticulturalists among those
with whom we resided.
Agta of the eastern portions of northern Luzon, the Philippines
have not been isolated from non-Agta ethnic groups for several
thousand years, not since the arrival of the Proto-Austronesian
speakers sailed into and through the archipelago as many as six
thousand years ago. Ancestral Agta may have arrived from mainland
Southeast Asia as part of the original dispersal of humans well before
50,000 years ago. They moved into an island chain with a somewhat
impoverished fauna compared with the continental mainland, yet
rich for hunters-gatherers. The environment was highly varied,
given over 7000 islands, with mountain ranges, disparate beaches
and littoral environments, large and small rivers, inland valleys, and
wild pig, deer, monkey, civet cats, monitor lizards, crocodiles, fruit
Caryota palm for “sago,” and fruits provided nutrients. Seasonally
wild pig fat was an important diet component. Contrary to the
once popular “wild yam hypothesis” that Philippine forests lacked
adequate wild starch producing plants for forager life before the
availability of horticulturally produced carbohydrates, the islands
sustained humans for tens of millennia. 5

68 The Cordillera Review
Since our argument concerning Agta subsistence success in
recent decades demands a cultural crafting of a design for living
that necessitates metal tools, a digression is relevant concerning
the earliest foragers living in a pre-metal subsistence design. Iron
is known only over the last two thousand years. Archaeologically
observed metal arrow points similar to Agta style cannot predate
iron. No bronze points are known. Arrow points, therefore, had to be
adequate, even if less sophisticated than today’s. Early 20th century
forty years ago hint at the diversity of styles and functions of non-
of circa 1900 and 1972 was the earlier presence of bamboo-sheathed
poison arrows in the hands of Agta men. 6 Rare types found among
the Palanan and Ihaya Agta will illustrate this point below.
Bows are made of carefully selected anaw (sp.) palm
as having adequately dense and strong wood. Grain is important.
Other palms would tend to break under pressure. Agta men know
the micro-environments where the best trees are located. The
Nanadukan men know of a grove of high quality palm near the
Malibu River where they and nearby Agta go to replace an aging
bow. Once a mature tree is selected, it is cut with a machete, split into
two-meter long pieces, and returned to the residence for processing.
Shaping takes place over several days. The front side is rounded and
grips it. The blank is shaved with a machete then with a knife. The
water as it is carried about by its owner. When not in use, it is kept
in a shaded area of the dwelling.
The bow ends are notched for the bowstring to securely tie it
down. Bow strings were once made solely of the inner bark of a
Ficus vine, although nylon braided line has been sometimes used in
recent years. Bows vary primarily by “pull” weight, which is how
much strength is needed to draw the bow string back for casting
an arrow. Women’s bows tend to have lighter pulls than those of
men in their prime. Youths have light bows. The exception in bow
construction is limited to “toy” bows that children make or have

Centrality of Arrow Crafting
69
made for them. Boys and some girls engage in play with bows and
arrows from a young age. Puppies are especially sought as targets,
but an unobservant friend, fallen fruit, an unwary bird, or a stray
hunters grow, birds are the usual prey.
In analyzing and reporting Agta arrows, one might arrange
by “old fashioned” versus common during the study period, by
arrows to kill various prey, or by arrow morphology. The latter is
arguably the simplest and clearest, with reference possible to areal
on the Nanadukan Agta data.
Arrows in general are of two types. The reed shaft bigew
(Miscanthus sp.) with a non-detachable point predominates in an
Agta suite of arrows. The solid sapling shaft, or bugwan, is made of
saplings of gisgis (Ixora sp. or bilanaw (Calophyllum sp.); detachable
metal points should always be present since these are best for
killing large deer and pig at close range. In a few specialized cases
this division fails, since several of the “older” styles have small
detachable points on reed shafts. These will be described in turn.
Concerning areal and Agta group distribution, the presence of
the greatest diversity in styles used correlates with distance from
non-Agta settlements and dependence on hunting. Men who hunt
frequently are interested in their arrow technology, both because
they depend on it and because therein lies their passion.
The bigew reed shaft is ubiquitous among Agta. The reed is ideal
for arrow shaft use. Seasonally it is extremely abundant, being found
along stream and river banks. While the shaft may break easily, it
is equally easily replaced. Before a hunt, it may be straightened by
lightly heating and bending and twisting by hand. The length and
circumference of the shaft varies according to weight of the attached
point. As will be described below, some points are very heavy, and
are launched from strong bows. The shaft must be sturdy enough to
bear the pressures of the launch.

70 The Cordillera Review
A range of pangal arrow points.
The basic arrow and arrow point is the pangal (Fig. 2). In fact,
Agta often use the word for any arrow and verbalize it when telling
of shooting an arrow. In some contexts, Agta in both Isabela and
Cagayan use the term pana
may be named in telling a story when such is relevant to action.
A pangal has a bigew reed shaft. As with all arrows, the notched
The pangal and its many named variants may also be termed
“single component” arrows. The point is attached directly into the
front of the shaft. The narrow posterior spine of the point is smithed
in such a fashion that it slides into the center pith of the reed and is
pangal are common
among all Agta from Baler, Quezon to Palaui Island, Cagayan. The
pangal
decent pangal, instead resulting in a crude pattak point. Any regular
hunter would own about six single component arrows, or more, and
several would be pangal.
One might argue that all the other named metal pointed single
component arrow points are simply variants of the pangal. They
pangal, or they

Centrality of Arrow Crafting
71
their smithing skills and enjoy the style variations they fabricate.
A pangal is widest close to its base where it attaches to the bigew
reed. It has a pleasing fat shape that curves smoothly down to the
point tip. A slight concavity is often found near the tip. While a
pangal always has its maximum width near the back of the point,
of arrows demand a light point. This would be the case when taking
a “long shot” at a monkey or even pig and deer when the chances
arrow embedded, it would not be a great loss. Or, a hit might cause
enough bleeding to leave a trail to follow. When the hunter plans for
and subsequently selects a larger, heavier pangal, he or she is almost
certainly in a position to get a close-in shot. A big, wide point makes
a large, damaging cut and has the power to shock. The idea is to
capitalize on being close to usually unsuspecting animal. I might
note that Agta men claim to be able at times to get close enough to
touch the animal in the rainy season when they can stalk without
sound.
Diversity in non-detachable single component arrow points: top
to bottom: gungot a palataw, palsok, negtiked, dinalopani, rebuteneg.

72 The Cordillera Review
Diversity in non-detachable, single component arrow points: top
to bottom: sinahik, gungot, palsok, pangal, gungot.
The second most popular single component arrow among the
Nanadukan Agta is the daguyos. The Ihaya Agta prefer the palsok or
gungot. (Figs. 3 and 4) Agta do not agree on separating it from pangal.
The disagreement comes from some men being less interested in and
less conversant with style variation and from variation over space.
As with the language and its dialects and sub-dialects, or simple
variation from river drainage to river drainage, names change. What
may be a pangal around the Blos a Dakkel River may be a daguyos
by the Blos a Ballik River. In far-away upriver Palanan, among the
Ihaya Agta, few might even use the term daguyos or might name
the daguyosdaguyos tends to be in the smaller
pangal range and to have the maximum point width well ahead of
the pangal imperative. The daguyos is also seldom wide compared
with length. If the width is considerable compared to length, some
Agta call it a naglapendek. Even within one group of co-resident men,
they debated whether the point was a pangal, naglapendek or daguyos.
The palataw is simply a huge pangal or palsok. The name comes
from the Agta term for an old, dull and expendable machete/bolo.
palataw a pangal or a palataw a palsok, being too identical to those types
yet long, wide and heavy. They are rare. Palsok, gungot, and sinahik
are three popular styles and indeed are attractive points. Once one
has mastered the basic smithing of a pangal, making their styles is not
pangal in all its size

Centrality of Arrow Crafting
73
variations. The palsok is determined by its maximum width being
somewhat mid-way along the length of the point. A downward
curving concavity begins shortly after the anterior of the maximum
width, then the curve may decrease the speed of the constriction, or
width, the concave curvature cannot be as great as the front portion
since the metal would otherwise be weakened. The gungot has the
maximum point width near the front, the anterior end of the point
and a gentle concavity extends back for the maximum width to the
posterior where it enters the bigew shaft. Its close relative the sinahik
has a narrower posterior base but must have a straight edge, no
concavity, running back from the maximum width near the tip.
PANA
pangal ginilat tinaned balawt
pangal ginilat balawt
daguyos linima numunmun
palataw pinitu kinalansang
pangal a palataw pangau sagud
palsok a palataw inamasakan baag
palsok
ginlgl
gungot
dapa
sinahik
sinapsapan
lampiaw
lambiung
lingad
gutob
daloydoy
nangalikedked
naglapendak
magagosdos
binulod
pattak
ginatang
rebutng
kinalibangbang
igut
sulok
bintoko

74 The Cordillera Review
The myriad of named types cannot be discussed in detail
in the present brief paper. The Cagayan Agta nomenclature is
named in Table 1. The unusual Ihaya Agta types will be noted
below, following a discussion of multiple component, detachable
and are subject to disagreement. For example, the kinalibangbang
is, to the anthropologists’ eyes, an exuberant and pleasing point,
comparatively wide at its greatest width with a concave sweep to the
tip of the point. Large or small, the kinalibangbang retains this shape.
In the present paper minimal discussion of the names of Ihaya points
that are similar or identical to Dupaningan Agta points will be the
case for brevity’s sake.
a
b
c
d
Detachable multiple component arrows, top to bottom: balawt, sagud,
ginilat/gahaygay, tinand.
Note in Table 1 three categories of arrow types that have arrow
points that detach from the arrow shaft: the ginilat, the tinaned, and
the balawt. All of these arrows have wooden sapling shafts and have
the arrow point detaching from the shaft to play out on a line after
penetrating an animal’s body. Beyond these principles, the structures
ginilat (Fig. 5c), with six plus
named sub-types, is a common single head attached to a shaft by a

Centrality of Arrow Crafting
75
line. The tinand (Fig. 5d) resembles the ginilat in its barbs and principle
of operation, but has two components. The most complex type is the
balawt (Fig. 5a), which operates on a rotating harpoon principle, and,
like the tinaned, has a foreshaft that connects to the main arrow shaft.
All detachable arrow points in southeastern Cagayan, unlike
in most of Isabela, have hardwood shafts, sturdy lines of Ficus inner
bark twine (or nylon) and barbed metal heads. All are designed to
kill deer and wild pigs, hence are unusable on monkeys and lesser
advantages in killing game, they are especially prized.
The shafts are carved or “whittled” from pieces of wood saplings
of gisgis (Ixora sp.) and bilanaw (Calophyllum sp.). A straight sapling
of over one meter in length is selected. Using a hunting knife, the
wood is trimmed and the surface is smoothed as it is reduced to the
desired shape. The anterior end, the bangat, is left large, since it must
house the socket (ulu) for the terminus of the point’s stem as well as
be a support for the line attachment.
a
b
c
d
Top three: ginilat/gahaygay, bottom: ginlgl.
The lines, either bark twine or nylon, measure about 110 cm and
are always doubled. The lines must be strong since upon penetration
of an animal by the point, the shaft disengages, falls, and the lines play
The lines then snap taut, and the point restrains the prey, much to the
animal’s detriment. The point itself is a central part of the technology

76 The Cordillera Review
since it should not be dislodged. Much of the design principles is
The ginilat and the similar gahaygay to the south is a metal point
which is placed directly into a socket in the shaft head. The main
characteristics of a ginilat is in one or more barbs that are placed
along a lengthy metal stem in back of the cutting tip and the two
opposite small barbs that terminate the tip. The main barbs protrude
well above the tip’s cutting edge, curving backwards and ending in
sharp tips.
Names of ginilat sub-types are based on the number of barbs
or upon special characteristics of the barbs. Generally a ginilat is a
row. A few have no barbs posterior of the tip’s barbs. Some have
only one line of barbs. Usually multiple barbed ginilat have a special,
larger terminal pair of barbs called anggd (Fig. 6c) which do most
of the hooking or catching as backward pressure is exerted on the
point. While the amount of “catch” of each barb is partly determined
by the matrix of the embedded point (muscle, bone, innards, etc.),
the larger posterior barbs may be most critical in the prevention of
withdrawal of the point. The basic ginilat can be broken into subtypes
based on the number and placement of the barbs, as noted
above and displayed in Table 1.
Cuttting barbs on a ginlgl point using a machete.

Centrality of Arrow Crafting
77
The (Fig. 6d) is a ginilat with many barbs, usually twelve
or more per side. This type has a specialized construction technique,
permitting more barbs. The metal pre-form is cut or sawed into
The dapa is the opposite extreme. Like its cousin the kayapa among
the Ihaya Agta, it has no barbs on the metal shaft, but has the barbs
at the tip enlarged and expanded to the size or greater of “regular”
barbs (Fig. 8d). Dapa vary in size, but do serve the same function as
multiple barbed points. The sinapsapan is a frequently seen ginilat and
is unique in its restriction of barbs to one side of the stem (Fig. 8a). The
number of barbs is irrelevant to this type. One barb or a dozen, it is
still a sinapsapan.
a
b
c
d
Detachable, multiple component arrow points: top to bottom:
sinapsapan, ginilat/pinatlo, gahaygay, kayapa.
Two types of detachable, metal point, multiple component
arrows are also present. These are the tinand and the balawt.
While the tinaned has no sub-types, the balawet may be divided into
named variants. These two types have two or three components,
disregarding the shaft and the line. Generally there is a metal point
and a wooden foreshaft, the patolan. The foreshaft attaches to the
rear of the point stem and the front of the main shaft, as it is inserted
into the socket (ulu) of the bangat.
The line that runs from the shaft to the point is attached to the
foreshaft by binding at two points along its length. The foreshaft is
a bit thicker than a standard pencil and has both ends rounded; it
functions to connect and support the point to the main arrow shaft. It
is also useful in tangling up inside an animal, further restricting exit

78 The Cordillera Review
of the point and damaging the animal. The wounded prey is doubly
restricted from getting away by pulling the point out of its body.
The problem, or disadvantage, of the tinaned and balawet types
rests in maintaining proper alignment. By this we mean that keeping
together in a straight and secure alignment, ready for nocking and
casting, is no mean feat. The pieces come apart easily as the hunter
runs through the vegetation. These points are most reliable and
pig the ginilat/gahaygay may be the best option. But, once inside an
animal, they can result in catastrophic internal damage (which is the
point of it all).
The balawet point, in front of the foreshaft, is a “tailed” point that
works like a rotating harpoon (Fig. 5a). Balawet can be divided into
types according to style and construction details. Two basic types
are metal and a combination of metal and horn or antler. The latter is
named sagud. The sagud (Fig. 5b) is an “old fashioned” type according
to our Ihaya and Dupaningan hosts. It is most likely found among
remote dwelling hunters and especially in situations where access to
metal and metal working tools is lacking. The cutting blade of the
point is small, not unlike a small pangal. The tail of the point curves up
and over the foreshaft is carved from antler tine or the tip of a carabao
horn. The hole through which the line (lubid) passes is drilled through
the antler or horn at a location prime for inducing the harpoon rotation
The balawet class of metal points has two divisions, one
subdivided into two. The baag is a balawet on which the upcurving
tail does not follow the longitudinal axis and plane of the blade, but
is rotated ninety degrees. Also, the baag tail is split into two spatulate
portions. The remaining balawet types are nimunmun and kinalasang.
nimunmun is “whole”
(munmun), while the kinalasang tail is split or notched into two little
tips. Most Agta, when asked the names of these two types, only call
them balawet, confessing sub-type names only when further queried. 7
The balawet may best be characterized as harpoon types in that they
are designed to rotate ninety degrees after penetration and tightening
of the line. As the foreshaft is uncoupled and rearward pressure is
is caught and forced away from the line of pull. The only hope the
animal has is to break the line attached to the arrow shaft and point
complex. While ginilat points have been known to be broken by a large
boar while internally lodged, the balawet stays in. The points must be
cut out of the carcass by the hunter; extraction by pulling is impossible.
Balawet
fabricate. Only a few senior men have the skills to forge such a point.

Centrality of Arrow Crafting
79
On the other hand, a sagud is easy to make, but is less desirable since
the antler or horn tine may, under pressure, separate. Most hunters,
however, regard the sagud as an excellent point.
points that were not seen in Cagayan. These we consider traditional
or old fashioned types. A few were fabricated especially for the
anthropologists, who asked about arrows that were made in the
“old days.” They tend to be either made entirely from non-metal
materials or to use only a small pangal-like point combined with
plant materials. The bigew reed shaft is ubiquitous since none of
the points have the weight of ginilat and gahaygay. Interestingly,
both detachable and non-detachable points are known. Discussion,
however, is best approached by noting the function or prey selection
for the points.
a
b
c
d
e
“Old-fashioned” arrow types: top to bottom: bahe, sabhit, dimlol, albig,
banglag with bamboo sheath.
The albig is a single component arrow similar to a pangal except
the point is a shaped bamboo (Fig. 9d). A thin, mature, hard-walled
bamboo is split into longitudinal pieces, after which the piece
is whittled by a knife into a long, narrow, pangal-like point ready
for attachment to the reed shaft. This arrow is often made by preadolescent
youth since it is easy to do and costs nothing in terms of
“imported” materials. And, last but not least, if lost through a bad

80 The Cordillera Review
suspects that this arrow and the ones discussed below once made
up the bulk of a hunter’s assemblage. The bahe (Fig. 9a) is similar
and is also intended to shoot deer and pig, but has a unique feature
in that the point itself is designed to separate from the shaft once
penetration of an animal occurs. A small, round piece of deer antler
is carved into a segment with a longitudinal hole that runs its length.
The front of the piece is wider than the rear. The stem of the point
bigew reed shaft. The arrow, upon striking an animal, cannot enter
beyond the point since the antler segment along with the shaft, is
separated then falls on the ground. The animal, assuming the hit
was non-lethal, retains the bamboo point inside, hopefully causing
bleeding and eventually fatal loss of blood. The shaft is recovered by
the hunter, who inserts another point into the antler, and on he goes.
known in Palanan and south among the Ihaya Agta. Monkeys are
usually shot while they are in trees and can make fast escapes. Most
importantly, a monkey can easily grab an arrow and use its hands
to pull it out of its body, making a get-away easier. The arrows
and damaging. But, the heavy metal ginilat and tinaned must be
adapted for monkeys. Most of these arrows are multiple components,
featuring a light point with a long stem or a patolan and a light lubid
connecting the point to the shaft. In addition, small barbs usually
exist to retard point removal by the wounded monkey.
a
b
c
d
e
Fish and monkey arrows: top to bottom: sigangat, bigel, sabhit, binuhog,
binuhog. The sigangatbigel is for monkeys or any small game,
and the bottom three are for monkeys.

Centrality of Arrow Crafting
81
The bigel (Fig. 10b) is the most basic. It has a pangal point, either
of metal or bamboo inserted into a thin pencil-like shaft that in turn
inserts into the bigew shaft. This is not a patolan since the pointposterior
stem is not tied on but inserted into the shaft for greater stability. A
short lubid line is bonded to both the wooden shaft and the reed shaft.
The sabhit (Figs. 9b, 10c) is the most frequently used monkey arrow
and likely is an ancient type. It is like the bigel but has rattan thorns
bonded to the wooden shaft anterior to the bigew shaft. These tough
little thorns are a nightmare to extract from a body. Just getting caught
by them while walking brings one to a halt. The sabhit often has a
light pangal point but use of bamboo is often seen in boys’ arrows.
The inunay and binuhog are similar to the bigel point, but instead of
a pangal-like point, they have small metal points with equally small
protruding barbs. The binuhog (buhog is the Agta word for monkey)
looks like a miniature ginilat or tinand (Figs. 10d, 10e). We should note
that in recent years most arrows cast at monkeys are just small pangal.
The ease of procuring metal and metal working tools has perhaps led
to the decrease in use of old-style arrows.
The dimlol (Fig. 9c) and the sigangat (Fig. 10a) are interesting but
seldom seen arrows, the former for shooting fruit bats or birds, the
dimlol is a multi-pronged bamboo point with
the barbed prongs spread apart to the front. When hitting a fruit bat,
they do not fall out but cover a wide area of the bat’s body or wings,
forcing it down. The sigangat nowadays is preferably made with
discarded umbrella wires, sharpened at the tips. Like the dimlol, the
is standing looking down into water, judges the angle and simply
before home-made goggles (antipara), rubber bands (goma) and metal
spears (bahot
specialized point is the banglag (Fig. 9e) which is always stored inside
a narrow bamboo sheath. The banglag is rather like a long pencil in
shape, being carved and whittled from anaw
is smeared with a poisonous tree sap. This arrow is only for shooting
humans. Agta no longer make these points nor do they engage in
raiding, or ngayaw. We hold two specimens in our collection.

82 The Cordillera Review
Men making arrow points: front left, cutting out a blank using a hammer
ginilat; right, shaping a bugwan shaft with a hunting
Filing a ginlgl after roughing out the barbs.

Centrality of Arrow Crafting
83
Filing a ginlgl
Fletching the arrow with kalaw feathers. Note the multiple component
point, a sagud made of deer antler tine. Nandukan, Cagayan.

84 The Cordillera Review
Contents of a bamboo arrow “tool kit” container. On left, feathers for
patolan,pangalkayapa,
ginlgl, balewt,a patolan and a ginilat. Lastly on the right is the open bamboo
storage unit with its cover at the top of the photograph. Nearly all men would
own such a tool kit.
Metal for arrow point blacksmithing must be secured from
external sources. These tend nowadays to be fairly common. Scrap
metal from old knives purchased from farmers, loggers, and others is
usually possible. The presence since the 1960s of logging companies
has been a bonanza of metal. Large spikes are especially sought
since they may be easily shaped into a variety of points. Flat stock is
scavenged when possible. The stray anthropologist has been known
to bring in requested straps of steel for arrow point manufacture.
Blacksmithing and subsequent steps in arrow point making
is largely, but not exclusively a rainy season activity. During this
cold, wet time of year of the northeast monsoons, October through
built under the edge of the house for cooking and for heating metal.
gather to work, talk, and plan (Fig. 11). When making metal arrow
points, a smith begins with a piece of metal and heats it in the wood

Centrality of Arrow Crafting
85
cold chisel are used to cut the metal into a rough shape. For a single
non-detachable point such as a pangal, the blank is roughed out and
smithing ceases. For the barbed points, the chisel is used to remove
the excess metal between the planned barbs. Again, with a rough
shape the hammering stops because too much thinning of a point by
hammer weakens the metal making it prone to breaking in use. The
pangal
are needed for ginilat, gahaygay and other barbed points. Rat-tailed
balawet, baag and . The balawet and other harpoon points
present more problems. Since hole through the metal is necessary
for the line to pass through, a punch or drill is needed. When antler
out the hole, but metal needs metal. Needless to say, production of
these points is limited not only by lack of skill in the maker but by
8
on a balawet or baag. The
many small, closely spaced barbs is literally cut into shape by an old
machete/bolo, which saws its way to the stem between each barb.
(See Figs. 7, 12, and 13 for each of the above actions.)
Aside from point fabrication, other steps are necessary but
relatively easy to accomplish with local resources. As mentioned
above, reeds are widely available. A few Agta have claimed to have
“planted” or replanted high quality reeds into the best growing
conditions in order to have the best arrow shafts at hand. Agta claim
that the selectively cultivated variety produces the best shaft. The
reeds are cut when alive, mature and fully grown. Maturity brings
a strong shaft, unlikely to crack easily, and able to resist lateral
pressures. It is also the most amenable to retention of straightness
warping resulting from the shaft getting wet. Collected shafts are
dried under a roof for a few days. A culling occurs, wherein some are
rejected. Nodes are examined, cracks scrutinized, and balance and
varies according to the size and weight of the planned point. Each
node of the reed is trimmed with a knife so that the shaft will not get
smooth launch. The saplings for bugwan shafts are also found easily
within the forest. Bugwan shafts are likewise carefully examined,
trimmed, straightened, and checked and rechecked. Flaws are

86 The Cordillera Review
tended to and, in some cases, the specimen is given up as hopeless.
Senior men seldom, however, initially choose poor quality pieces.
lubid lines made of Ficus vines are found
in the forest. Sggit is the sticky sap of the Narra tree (Pterocarpus
indicus) that is always used to adhere components to the shafts. The
lubid line must be strongly glued to the points, patolan, and shafts.
alad) are those of forest birds. The
best feathers are those of the kalaw (). The
Sggit
that is impervious to the elements, although it is touched up now
feathers.
The hunter usually has a tool kit at home with the necessities
none of this is carried. The hunter is armed only with bow, arrows,
and a knife. The knife enables any emergency repairs, if necessary.
The future of Agta arrow naming, fabrication, use, and certainly
enjoyment does not have a bright future. As we write, few young
men share the knowledge and enthusiasm of now aged seniors.
The plentiful deer and wild pig populations of the 1980s is now
diminished by overhunting for trade to growing numbers of inmigrants,
loggers, and others. The forests have been devastated by
logging and by clearing by peasant farmers following the logging
trucks. While commercial logging by big concessioners is now illegal,
wherever reachable. Without game to hunt, arrows are not needed;
young men, who a generation ago would have been enthusiastic
apprentices of hunting and blacksmithing, now understandably seek
to join the modern world of cell phones, the internet, and gainful
employment. We hope that one day they will appreciate the superb
skills and knowledge of their ancestors. Ewan den. No more.

Centrality of Arrow Crafting
87
Over the last forty two years we have incurred so much utang
na loob and received so much help that listing here is impossible.
For the present paper, we thank Dr. Analyn V. Salvador-Amores for
presentation was given at the 1st Regional Conference on Material
Culture of the Cordillera, University of the Philippines Baguio on
May 30, 2014. The help and friendships of Galpong and Taytayan
Taginod of Nanadukan and Mudi and Payto of Ihaya are valued. As
ever, Mr. Alfonso (Sonny) Lim, Jr. and Mr. Nick Cerra, formerly of
Acme Plywood and Veneer, are thanked for immeasurable help and
interest in our work. To those few remaining hunting friends of ours,
we say salamat and dios ti agngina.
1. Dr. Robert Fox visited Palanan, Isabela and the Agta of Disuked and
Dimolitin in 1954, early in his career. His student, Ponciano Bennagen,
wrote his MA thesis in Anthropology (1976) from the 1968 ethnographic
in Anthropology focusing on the same area and families. In 1972 P.B.
Palanan but then expanding to upriver mountain interior Palanan and
her MA thesis in Anthropology (1984) at UP Diliman as part of this
the Hawaii program completed MA theses and Ph.D. dissertations
on Agta researches. These include Headland (1986), Rai (1990), Clark
(1990), and Mudar (1985) The Agta research is most widely known for its
1986) and Headland’s population dynamics studies (Early and Headland
Tessa Minter (2010) is an important and comprehensive contribution.
2. Research was funded by the National Science Foundation (USA), the
National Endowment for the Humanities (USA), the Wenner-Gren
Foundation, the University of Hawaii, and by personal funds.
3.
in the Sierra Madre,” for a discussion of the various ethnolingustic
groups in the Sierra Madre of Isabela and Cagayan.
4. The Fox and Flory map (1974) of Philippine ethnic groups puts the
location of the Ebukid Agta, based on our information, as roughly the
mountain interior south of Palanan until Dinipique. Ebukid means “of

88 The Cordillera Review
the mountains” but might be used pejoratively by more settled Agta.
5. The wild yam hypothesis suggests that tropical forests produce too few
starches for hunter-gatherers to have a viable subsistence base (Headland
1987; Headland and Reid 1989). Given the archaeological presence of
humans in the Philippines since the late Pleistocene, the wild yam issue
is moot, unless we markedly restrict where people lived.
6.
have a large collection of representative arrows collected between 1972
and 1982.
7.
intriguing, and amusing but positive. Most men are “into” arrows
and enjoy discussions and displaying their knowledge. An occasional
humorist can cause consternation by making up names for pulling the
unwary anthropologists’ legs.
8.
wanting European or American manufacturers, claiming great durability.
Otherwise, loggers were asked or trips to the Cagayan Valley made.
Bennagen, Ponciano L. 1976. “Kultura at Kapaligiran: Pangkulturang
Pagbabago at Kapanatagan ng mga Agta sa Palanan, Isabela.” Master’s
thesis, University of the Philippines Diliman.
Clark, Constance D. 1990. “The Trading Networks of the Northeastern
Cagayan Agta Negritos.” Master’s thesis, University of Hawai’i, Manoa.
Early, John D., and Thomas N. Headland. 1998. Population Dynamics of a
Philippine Rain Forest People. Gainesville, FL: University of Florida Press.
95
(5): 36-43.
Cagayan Agta Hunting.” Master’s thesis, University of the Philippines
Diliman.
Fox, Robert B., and Elizabeth H. Flory. 1974. Map of the Filipino People.
Manila: National Museum of the Philippines.
Eastern Luzon, the Philippines 1910-1985.” In
edited by
Peter P. Schweitzer, Megan Biesele, and Robert K. Hitchcock, 94-109.
New York: Berghahn Books.

Centrality of Arrow Crafting
89
the Agta of Northeastern Luzon.” In Projectile Technology, edited by
Heidi Knecht, 267-86. New York: Plenum Press.
———. 1985. “Population Movements and Socio-economic Change in the
Sierra Madre.” In The Agta of Northeastern Luzon: Recent Studies, edited
University of San Carlos Publications.
“Maipaspasuli kadi lattan
ti Aeta?” Bannawag, February 10, 5, 32-34.
———. 1985. The Agta of Northeastern Luzon: Recent Studies. Cebu City:
University of San Carlos Publications.
Headland, Thomas N. 1986. “Why Foragers Do Not Become Farmers: A
Hunter-Gatherer Group in the Philippines.” PhD diss., University of
Hawai’i, Manoa.
———. 1987. “The Wild Yam Question: How Well Could Independent
Hunter-gatherers Live in a Tropical Rain Forest Ecosystem?”
Ecology 15 (4): 453-91.
Headland, Thomas N., and Lawrence A. Reid. 1989. “Hunter-Gatherers
and Their Neighbors from Prehistory to the Present.” Current
Anthropology 30 (1): 43-66.
Minter, Tessa. 2010. “The Agta of the Northern Sierra Madre: Livelihood
Strategies and Resilience among Philippine Hunters-Gatherers.” PhD
diss., Leiden University.
Mudar, Karen. 1985. “Bearded Pigs and Beardless Men: Predator-Prey
Relations between Pigs and Agta in Northeastern Luzon, Philippines.”
In The Agta of Northeastern Luzon: Recent Studies, edited by P. Bion
San Carlos Publications.
Rai, Navin K. 1990.
Transition. Anthropological Papers No. 80. Ann Arbor, MI: Museum of
Anthropology, University of Michigan.
Reid, Lawence A. 1994. “Unraveling the Linguistic Histories of Philippine
Negritos.” In Language Contact and Change in the Austronesian World,
edited by Tom Dutton and Darrell T. Tryon, 443-75. Berlin: De Gruyter
Mouton.

Movement in Kalinga in World War II
STEPHEN GRIFFITHS
of St. Paul’s Mission in Balbalasang, Kalinga, the Philippine
Episcopal Church’s most isolated mission. With the support of
northern Luzon. Their 121st company of guerrillas ambushed the
General Wainwright surrendered on Bataan, Cushing ordered
the mission nurse Dottie Taverner, went into hiding in the forest.
They were captured in March 1943 and interned in Camp Holmes
near Baguio and later at the Bilibid Prison in Manila. General
MacArthur’s 37th Infantry liberated them in February 1945. In
addition to describing early resistance in the Cordillera to the
Japanese invasion, this article provides an intimate glimpse of the
American colonial experience in the Philippines and its impact
on the Tingguian people. It also presents an unexpected portrait
of Japanese soldiers and their commanders, defying stereotypes.
Keywords: Japanese invasion, resistance movement, World War
II, Kalinga, Philippine Episcopal Church
I hid out in the mountains of Luzon for 16 months with my wife and
child. When the Japanese captured me, I was tied to a bed for two weeks.
trench. After digging trenches for two days, I was sent down to the
Baguio concentration camp and then to Bilibid here in Manila. It was
he speaks with no hesitation: It is February 1945, and he has just been
liberated from a Japanese prisoner of war camp in the Philippines.
The camera captures him from the waist up. Standing under a tree
by a sun-drenched wall, he is thinner and younger than I have ever

4 The Cordillera Review
seen him. His hair is long and wavy. He is wearing a short-sleeved
cotton shirt that is too big for him. His smile is bright and expressive.
the capital city. He speaks in a Boston accent I had forgotten he had.
Death, Escape
& Liberation: POWS in the Philippines During World War II. I didn’t
know it existed until recently when an acquaintance brought it
to my attention. My father, an Episcopal priest, never told me the
story he relates on camera to Army Intelligence. Only when he was
with friends who had been in prison camp with him did he—or my
mother—ever talk about their wartime experiences. Instead, they
each wrote an account of the war for my sister and me to have. This
essay is derived from their two unpublished memoirs. 1
When I began editing and rewriting my parents’ manuscripts,
I was much older than they were when they lived through the
experiences described in this narrative. I was constantly amazed—
and sometimes very moved—by how they coped with their
extraordinary circumstances. This project has reintroduced me
and for other civilians caught up in the great changes that wartime
demands.
the chaplain of Brent School in Baguio City. An Episcopal Church
school, Brent served the sons and daughters of American colonial
Eager to become acquainted with the Episcopal Church’s
mission work in northern Luzon, Al traveled throughout the
Mountain Province 2 during school vacations. He was especially
enchanted by his visit to Balbalasang in the sub-province of Kalinga.
On the upper reaches of the Saltan River and surrounded on all
sides by pine-forested mountains like an amphitheater, the village
was home to the Episcopal Church’s most isolated mission, reached
by a three-day hike from Laganilang in Abra Province to the west or
a two-day hike from Lubuagan in the mountainous interior.
Not long after the United States acquired the Philippines from
Spain in 1898, the Secretary of the Interior for the Philippines, Dean
C. Worcester, visited Balbalasang on a tour of northern Luzon. In his
account of the 1905 journey, he wrote:

Guerilla Priest
5
We visited several of the wilder settlements of the Tingians in
Abra, then made a hard climb over Mount Pico de Loro and
descended its eastern slopes to the Tingian village of Balbalasan in
the Saltan River valley. Its people, while not really head-hunters,
were often obliged to defend themselves against their Kalinga
neighbours, and were consequently well armed. (Worcester 1914,
538)
Balbalasang villagers were famous throughout the region for
their skill in crafting machetes, spears, and head axes. The Tingguian,
like other mountain tribes in northern Luzon known collectively
as Igorots, had maintained their independence throughout threehundred
years of Spanish colonial rule, never becoming acculturated
like their lowland brethren. In contrast, the Americans and the
Igorots quickly took to each other. Americans admired the Igorots’
bravery and independent streak, and Igorots saw the advantages to
be gained in education and health care by forming close associations
with the new colonialists—perhaps none more so than Puyao, the
chief of Balbalasang.
Puyao had been appointed mayor of the Balbalan District in
Kalinga shortly after the Spanish-American War. Respected and
loved by his people, Chief Puyao had encouraged villagers to build
an elementary school and teachers’ quarters with wood they cut
and carefully hewed from the forest. American colonial authorities
were so impressed by his initiative that they assigned a supervising
teacher and four assistants to the school (Fry 2006, 161). Exploring
the advantages to be gained by an even closer association with
Americans, Chief Puyao invited the Episcopal Church to establish a
In 1936, the priest-in-charge of St. Paul’s Mission in Balbalasang
resigned. When Al heard the news, he asked the Episcopal Bishop
of the Philippines for the assignment. Now serving as the chaplain
of St. George’s School in Rhode Island, Al missed the Philippines
and was eager to return to the Islands in a new role as a missionary
rather than as a school chaplain. The Bishop quickly assented.
By 1936, St. Paul’s Mission had grown to include a small church
and several outstations, a dispensary, a girls’ dormitory for students
from neighboring villages who attended the elementary school,
pine and had thatched roofs. Dottie Taverner, a plump and cheerful
Balbalasang villagers called their new priest “Padji” (father).
His mission house stood on a hill above the church and plaza. He
had a grand view of the Saltan River Valley and the village below,

6 The Cordillera Review
pine-forested valley, villagers had carved rice terraces fed by water
muddy gray. They quickly turned bright green with seedlings and
matured to a warm golden brown at harvest. Flowing through sunwashed
granite boulders, the Saltan River rushed past the village. Al
swam in it almost every day. He wrote his friends in Massachusetts
that the river was as fresh, clear, and sparkling as champagne.
One evening in the summer of 1937—after he had been in
Balbalasang almost a year—Al turned on his short-wave radio to
listen to the news. He was surprised to learn that the Japanese had
attacked Shanghai and that all American women and children there
were being evacuated by ship to Manila. Wondering if a woman he
had met at a church conference the year before—and who taught in
Shanghai—might be among the refugees, Al made the long trek out
of Balbalasang, caught a bus to Manila, and was dockside when the
ship pulled in. Yes, she was on board, but what he didn’t know—
women in her wedding party were with her, including her unmarried
sister Nessie Coles, a teacher in Hawaii.
Al and Nessie quickly struck up a friendship and for the next
nine evenings in a row they dined and danced—at the grand Manila
Hotel, the Army-Navy Club, and the huge Santa Ana dance hall.
They made a striking couple. Thin and as tall as Al, Nessie had wavy
black hair and pale, white skin. She wore no jewelry, her only makeup
lipstick. Al’s curly blonde hair had turned gray at the temples, but
he was trim and tanned from his swimming and mountain hiking.
He smiled often, making his green eyes sparkle.
After this whirlwind courtship, Nessie sailed back to Hawaii
to begin the school year and Al returned to his work in Balbalasang.
They began to correspond, and it wasn’t long before Al proposed
marriage. Nessie accepted. In November 1938, they were married at
St. John’s pro-cathedral in Shanghai (so Nessie’s sister could be her
Maid of Honor). 3 They honeymooned in Hong Kong, then sailed to
the Philippines to begin their married life in Balbalasang.
Al and Nessie soon found that their life took on a pleasant
pattern. Each morning, Nessie would attend Al’s early morning
mass. While Al visited parishioners and attended to his church work,
Nessie supervised the household, planned meals, and wrote letters
to her family. Early each afternoon they took a short siesta. Then Al
and the elementary school teachers met on the school plaza for a
evening after the service, Al and Nessie walked through Balbalasang
to visit villagers before returning home for dinner.

Guerilla Priest
7
As weeks went by, Nessie noticed that villagers always asked
Al the same question. Finally, one evening she asked him what it
was.
He told her what she was beginning to suspect—they were
inquiring if she were pregnant.
“And what do you tell them?”
“Oh, not for twelve years!”
Nessie gave birth to her daughter Katy in December 1939.
By mid-1941, Al and Nessie’s concerns of an impending
anticipation of a Japanese attack. In October, U.S. High Commissioner
to the Philippines, Francis B. Sayre, canceled a planned trip to
Balbalasang, the political situation too tense for him to be absent
from headquarters. Radio reports were so pessimistic that Al and
Nessie thought war might break out at any moment.
As a precaution, Nessie mailed an emergency order for canned
goods and supplies along with her usually large Christmas order. In
case they had to evacuate quickly, she packed a pasiking (Tingguian
backpack) with a change of clothing, a raincoat, and an extra pair of
On December 7, 1941 the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. The
U.S. declared war on Japan the following day. Within 24 hours of the
attack, the Japanese landed an advance force of 2,000 men at Vigan,
a coastal town 80 kilometers directly west of Balbalasang (Norling
commanding a company of Filipino soldiers in the neighboring
province of Abra found his way to Balbalasang and reported to Chief
Puyao that his soldiers had deserted. Rumors spread rapidly: All the
Chinese merchants in Vigan had been hanged and Roman Catholic
nuns in Bangued raped. On December 22, a main force of 43,000
Japanese soldiers, under the direction of General Homma, landed at
Lingayen Gulf and quickly moved south to oppose American forces
defending Bataan and Corregidor (Norling 1999, 23).
On the sixth day of the war, just as Al and Nessie, and their
dinner guest Dottie, were sitting down to eat, a villager burst into
the house with the news that an American family was approaching
Balbalasang—and the mother was about to give birth. Dottie quickly
grabbed a kettle to heat water. Within minutes Garnett and Dolly

8 The Cordillera Review
Dottie’s relief, Dolly was not in labor.
Garnett operated a small gold mine 40 kilometers west of
Balbalasang. As the Japanese moved inland from the coast, he was
afraid to keep his family there any longer. Al and Nessie urged the
Morrises to rest for a few days before continuing on to the Batong-
Buhay Mine, south of Balbalasang where a physician was on
later, under Dottie’s expert care, Dolly gave birth to a son.
Their next visitor was Walter Cushing, who with his partner,
“Pee Wee” Ordun, operated a gold mine very near Morris’s. Not
having forgotten the fun they had panning for gold on his last visit,
Al and Nessie were delighted to see him again. Cushing was on his
way to Batong-Buhay to radio the United States Army Headquarters
on Bataan for approval to organize a guerrilla company. He had
gathered up the weapons and ammunition deserting Filipino Army
units had left behind and hidden them in a tunnel at his mine. He
was eager to put them to use.
father was Canadian and his mother Mexican. Slight in stature, he
had dark skin and bright blue eyes. His parents met while his father
was working at a silver mine in Mexico. The family moved to Los
Angeles where Walter, the oldest of 10 children, graduated from high
school. In the 1930s, two of Walter’s brothers went to the Philippines
to work in the gold mines. Walter wanted to join them, but he was
married, the father of a child, and broke. He got a job as a steward on
the and jumped ship when it reached Manila. Once
he found work, he sent for his family.
The subsequent failure of his marriage spun Walter into a ninemonth
drinking binge. To sober up, he planned to set sail for Saigon
to join the French Foreign Legion but his friend Pee Wee Ordun
intervened. Pee Wee persuaded Walter to join him in opening the
Rainbow Mine in Baay, Abra. Cushing was 34 years old when the
war broke out (Ordun 1943, 1-2).
On Christmas Eve, Cushing returned to Balbalasang from
Batong-Buhay. With great excitement, he reported he had received
boxes of chocolate for the women, all-day suckers for Katy and
return to his mine, he wouldn’t stay and celebrate Christmas.
Christmas morning dawned cool, clear, and bright. Both the
mission and village were festive with red poinsettia. Al conducted
the Christmas service at eight. Then he and Nessie entertained the

Guerilla Priest
9
village children with a party at their house. The party ended with
the distribution of gifts and candy—and a big peanut scramble
down the hillside to the church plaza below. With cries of “Merry
Christmas!” the youngsters returned home.
That afternoon Al, Nessie, and their guests—Dottie, the Morrises,
and Pee Wee—sat down for Christmas dinner—turkey with all the
trimmings and cherry pie for dessert. Al amused them by reading a
Christmas note from an old friend in Massachusetts. His friend wrote
that he would have to bear the brunt of war if it should come—while
Al could live peacefully among his Tingguian friends and watch the
clouds roll by day-by-day—safe in his Philippine Shangri-La.
Little did any of them know while feasting that day that all
of them would be imprisoned during the war, three would perish,
and it would be years before those who survived would be rescued.
Walter Cushing himself would be shot and killed in an ambush in
less than a year.
While on home leave in the summer of 1940, Al had been
commissioned as a chaplain in the U.S. Army Reserve. Cushing
asked him to organize a guerrilla company in Balbalasang, and
he quickly agreed, although he worried that his Bishop would
not approve. The goal of his 121st Company would be to prevent
Japanese movements from Abra in the west to the town of Balbalan
in the east. Guerrillas would also carry dynamite from Batong-Buhay
to the lowlands where Cushing would use it to blow up bridges and
roads, frustrating the Japanese advance on Manila. Cushing gave Al
the rank of Lieutenant, and he asked Chief Puyao and the villagers
to address Al as “Lieutenant” rather than their familiar “Padji.” Al
was to take his orders from Colonel John Horan. The Commandant
of Camp John Hay in Baguio, Horan had been caught away from
There he lived with the Rev. and Mrs. Nagel at the Kalinga Academy.
lieutenant and Frederick Dao-ayan, a villager who taught at the
elementary school, to be his second lieutenant. Al used the school
building as the headquarters for the 121st. Within days thirty-seven
Balbalasang men joined the company.
At dawn on January 19th, Cushing and his men attacked two
convoys of Japanese soldiers when they entered the coastal town of
Candon in the province of Ilocos Sur. Sixty-nine Japanese were killed
and fourteen trucks were captured or destroyed (Norling 1999, 2).

10 The Cordillera Review
Map of Northern Luzon.

Guerilla Priest
11
Map of Northern Luzon, circa 1941, showing location of places
cited in the article.
Balbalasang Valley, late 1940s. (All photos accompanying this article,

12 The Cordillera Review
Village homes in Balbalasang.
Saltan River.

Guerilla Priest
13
arrived in the Philippines in the early thirties.
in their mission home in Balbalasang which
was burned by the Japanese during the war.

14 The Cordillera Review
News of Cushing’s success soon reached Colonel Horan in Lubuagan
who promptly proclaimed him a major in the guerrilla resistance
(Norling 1999, 3).
Cushing seized large supplies of food at Candon, including 50
he dispensed it to civilians and guerrillas as needed. He had forty
bags transferred to Mapga, an evacuation camp his guerrillas had
built for him beside the Mapga River, about three kilometers from
with weevils. Whenever any was needed, she and Katy’s amah Hilda
would spend a morning sifting it. They gave extra special care to the
who used it to make communion wafers.
February and March were quiet, but on a Sunday in April, Al
received a message to report to Colonel Horan in Lubuagan at once.
Normally, it took two days to reach the town via the main trail. But Al
and his two guerrilla companions took a short cut over the mountains,
and reached Lubuagan at nightfall after a long and strenuous day of
hiking. He discovered that Colonel Horan had no urgent need to
see him. The Colonel told Al that he was having trouble getting Al’s
commission, as Army Headquarters had no record of his appointment
as a chaplain in the Reserves. Al had his appointment papers with
him so Horan radioed his serial number to Headquarters.
Meanwhile, back at Balbalasang, a runner came to Nessie with
a message for Al from Major Cushing. The Japanese—eight hundred
strong—were on their way from Abra to Lubuagan. Cushing planned
to ambush the enemy at Lamonan, in the midst of a pine forest about
15 kilometers west of Balbalasang. Al was to evacuate all villagers
immediately. Since Santos was on a scouting mission for Al, Nessie
sent for Frederick Dao-ayan and Garnett Morris. They decided to
dispatch a runner to Batong-Buhay to radio a message to Colonel
Horan and Al and a second runner to take the shortcut to Lubuagan
in case the radio at Batong-Buhay was not working. Dao-ayan also
sent runners to villages along the trail, urging villagers to evacuate
and to take their food supplies and animals with them.
Nessie’s anxiety grew by the minute. She kept herself busy
packing—clothes, food, blankets, and Al’s important papers. He
arrived at seven that evening, near exhaustion from having hiked
as quickly as he could over the rough mountain trail. The radio
message had reached him as he and Colonel Horan were having
an early morning breakfast. After Al showered and rested for a bit,
Nessie served him a chicken dinner by candlelight.
Nessie’s intent was to leave for Mapga the next morning with
Dottie and Dolly, but she could not sleep. The longer she lay awake

Guerilla Priest
15
the more convinced she became that the guards Dao-ayan had
posted by the trail to Abra were asleep. At midnight, she woke Al
and begged him to take her and Katy to Mapga. She wrapped twoyear-old
Katy in a blanket and handed her to one of Al’s guerrillas
the blanket on his back.
midnight evacuees had to cross and re-cross it thirteen times. The
air was still and balmy, the sky alight with stars, rushing water and
footsteps the only sounds.
they saw a brilliant shooting star streak across the sky, its golden tail
seeming to hover for breathless seconds before disappearing beyond
the rim of the mountains. Nessie hoped the shooting star was a good
omen, that all would be well with them.
As soon as Nessie and daughter Katy were settled at Mapga, Al
returned to Balbalasang. He got just two hours of sleep before going
down to the village to ask for volunteers to help evacuate Dottie and
Dolly. Garnett had already left for the ambush.
Cushing had expected only 30 guerrillas to participate in the
ambush, but as news of it spread, guerrillas from other units showed
up as well as two Philippine Constabulary squads (Norling 1999,
26). He ordered Al not to leave for the ambush until the village
was completely evacuated. At Chief Puyao’s direction, villagers
had built themselves an evacuation camp high in the mountains at
a place called Maatop. Fearing that the Japanese would steal their
horses and eat their pigs, they were up early, carrying food supplies
and driving their animals up the paths to their hideaway.
By noon, Al had Dolly and her children on the way to Mapga,
but Dottie insisted on remaining behind to pack medical supplies as
well as her most cherished possessions. She wasn’t ready to leave
until late in the afternoon. Only then could Al, accompanied by one
of his guerrillas, make his way up the mountain trail to Lamonan.
As they climbed higher, the trail became shrouded in clouds and
a cool, heavy mist. Shortly, they met two young men headed back to
Balbalasang. One handed a note to Al. Opening it, he discovered the
note was from Garnett to Dolly. It read: “Dear Dolly, the Japanese are
getting nearer. Our ambush is ready. I shall do my best.” Al added a
note to Nessie: “Dear Nessie, I am on my way to the ambush. I’ll do
Night fell. Before Al and his companion reached the summit,
getting louder and louder with each step. Suddenly, they heard
voices and the sound of men rushing down the trail toward them.

16 The Cordillera Review
to discover the voices belonged to Cushing, Garnett, and American
soldiers and guerrillas who had participated in the ambush. An
elated Cushing told Al the ambush had gone well.
Meeting no resistance on their long trek into the mountains, the
Japanese had made three fatal mistakes. First, they neglected to send
scouts ahead. Second, the advance guard marched close together,
perhaps unnerved by the sights and sounds of a Southeast Asian
rainforest. Third, the soldiers placed their helmets over the ends of
their guns to protect the weapons from the mist.
When the lead soldiers were only a few feet away, Cushing
Japanese were slaughtered. Those who made it through the initial
buried the dead in shallow graves and retreated with their wounded
to Bangued, the provincial capital of Abra. None of Cushing’s
guerrillas was injured or killed.
How many Japanese died at Lamonan is not clear from the few
existing accounts of the ambush. Pee Wee Ordun, who was later
captured by the Japanese and imprisoned at Cabanatuan, wrote a ninepage
description of Cushing and his guerrilla activities. According
to Ordun, seven thousand Japanese marched into Abra after the fall
of Bataan in April 1942. About a thousand hiked from Bangued to
Lubuagan, their trail taking them right through Balbalasang. Ordun
(1943, 5) writes, “On their way Cushing met them in two or three
own men. No doubt this was the ambush at Lamonan.
The American historian Bernard Norling provides a more
detailed account of the Lamonan ambush in his book, The Intrepid
Guerrillas of North Luzon:
One of Cushing’s most spectacular coups took place on April
17, 1942, when he ambushed a company of the Japanese 122nd
Infantry near Balbalasang in Kalinga Province…. The enemy,
its own advance guard instead…. The intramural battle among
the Japanese continued until an estimated 160 of the enemy were
killed. (Norling 1999, 8)
Al, Cushing, and the guerrillas reached Balbalasang at ten in
the evening. Al took them up to his house and cooked them a meal

Guerilla Priest
17
with food Nessie had left behind. He sent a runner to Lubuagan with
a message for Colonel Horan that the ambush had been a success.
Both he and Cushing expected the Japanese to continue their push
to Lubuagan. When the Japanese would arrive in Balbalasang—and
what they might do to retaliate for the ambush—was anybody’s
guess.
After eating, the men continued on to Mapga. The next morning
they woke to a breakfast of fresh scones and hot oatmeal prepared by
Nessie, Dottie, and Dolly. Cushing ate his quickly. He was anxious
to leave for Batong-Buhay to dismantle the radio there before the
participated in the ambush to join guerrilla units hiding in the
mountains, concerned that they were too big a drain on Al’s meager
resources.
In just days a villager arrived in camp with the news everyone
had been expecting: The Japanese had reached Balbalasang. Over a
three-week period, hundreds of them passed through the village on
their way to Lubuagan. They marched in small groups with captured
American soldiers and Filipinos forced to carry their supplies.
Al and Nessie and all those hiding at Mapga knew they were
in great danger. To this point the Balbalasang people had been very
loyal to them, but now that the Japanese were in control of the
village, they weren’t sure what to expect.
When the last Japanese soldier left Balbalasang, they breathed
a sigh of relief. Al and Santos quickly returned to Balbalasang to see
the village. In Al’s house and also Dottie’s, soldiers had smashed
the toilets, and defecated in all the rooms. At the church, they had
ripped the Stations of the Cross from the walls, torn apart the sacristy
where the vestments and hymnbooks were stored, and used the altar
as a butcher block for the chickens and pigs they stole from villagers.
They littered every village house they occupied, and ordered
villagers to cut down coconut and banana trees so they could more
easily get the fruit.
Dispirited, Al returned to Mapga. Cushing arrived from Batong-
Buhay with news that dispirited him even more: General MacArthur
May 6th. General Jonathan Wainwright—who had surrendered on
Bataan in April—had ordered all forces resisting the Japanese to
surrender. Colonel Horan had already done so in Lubuagan—on June
2nd—and had sent a message to Al via Cushing that if he decided to
That night the small band of refugees at Mapga sat around their

18 The Cordillera Review
songs didn’t improve their spirits. None wanted to surrender.
Each knew too much about the guerrilla movement to risk being
interviewed by the Japanese. They decided that if the Japanese
wanted them, they would simply have to come and get them.
In the morning Cushing announced he had decided to
establish his guerrilla headquarters at an old abandoned mine at
Guinguinabang—a two-day hike from Balbalasang. He ordered
equipment. Before he departed—after a mass Al celebrated in
the church—he told villagers not to address Al any longer as
“Lieutenant” but to use their familiar “Padji.”
By June 1942, the Japanese had rounded up most American
civilians in the Philippines—miners, missionaries, teachers, students,
and entrepreneurs—and placed them in prison camps—Santo
Tomas, Los Baños, and Camp Holmes, among others. Altogether
the Japanese incarcerated approximately 5,000 American civilians
(Cogan 2000, 12). Almost all had surrendered to the Japanese
willingly. Only a handful tried to escape imprisonment.
The Japanese had a special reason for wanting to capture the
Padji and his family, revealed in a report written by someone named
1946, 17). Concepcion was a spy for the Japanese. His report reads:
is with his family, surrenders, it is most likely he will be able to
persuade the Balbalasang people to return to their village [from
their evacuation camps], and thus normalize the rest of Kalinga.
Kalinga is liable to be yet a “trouble area” unless controlled in time.
unless one is accompanied by an American. (Concepcion 1942, 5)
When Al learned that the Japanese were sending his friend
Rev. Nagel of the Kalinga Academy, to Balbalasang to ask him to
surrender, he decided to leave the comfortable camp at Mapga and
villager to lead him to Mapga, and he did not want to see him. Chief
Puyao advised Al to make his new camp at Masablang, west of
Balbalasang. There villagers had hillside gardens. Al and his family,
along with Dottie, could live in huts villagers used when working
in their gardens and were welcome to help themselves to as much

Guerilla Priest
19
garden produce as they needed. Chief Puyao invited the Morrises to
join him at his Maatop evacuation camp. Al did not want to involve
them in his troubles. When Rev. Nagel arrived in Balbalasang with
his message for Al, Chief Puyao refused to reveal his whereabouts.
Twice in the next two months the Japanese command in
Lubuagan sent troops to Balbalasang in search of Al. The second
time they came within a breath of capturing him on a dawn raid at
deliberately sent the troops up the wrong trail. Much angered, the
troops returned to Balbalasang and burned all the mission buildings
except the church. They took 30 Balbalasang men as hostages,
swearing to hold them in Lubuagan until Al surrendered.
Al knew he had no choice but to surrender. He hiked to Chief
Puyao’s camp at Maatop, six kilometers from Balbalasang and
informed the Chief of his decision. Puyao’s reaction was strong:
He was adamant that Al not surrender. The Padji was not to worry
about the hostages. He had sent word to them to escape, and he was
sure they would succeed. Al returned to their new hiding place at
Diwayan, a hunter’s camp deep in the forest and far from any village.
A week later, one of his guerrillas brought news that the hostages had
slipped into the forest at night and made their escape. They had been
under the lax guard of a Philippine Constabulary soldier.
Al found his existence very trying. He no longer had his church
work, and the absence left hours on his hands when he had nothing
to do. It frustrated him that he knew nothing of what was going on
in the guerrilla movement. One night in early October, he set out for
did not arrive at the camp until late in the afternoon of the next day.
a trip to the Cagayan Valley to contact a guerrilla unit. Nevertheless,
Al enjoyed the company of Cushing’s guerrillas, and he especially
enjoyed listening to the shortwave radio for news from San Francisco.
would soon be over. Each day the guerrillas mimeographed a news
report (“The Echo of the Free North”) and distributed it to towns
and villages in Abra and Kalinga. Their goal was for the Filipino
and given full independence at the end of the war.
What neither Al nor the guerrillas knew at the time—but were
in the town of Jones, Isabela Province, Cushing was ambushed by
Philippine Constabulary troops collaborating with the Japanese.
Severely wounded in the attack, Cushing shot himself with his
Colt 45. His desire to take his own life rather than be captured so

20 The Cordillera Review
St. Paul’s Church in Balbalasang.
Palm Sunday procession at St. Paul’s Church.

Guerilla Priest
21
Village men playing gangsas at a village dance.
Student body, St. Paul’s Memorial High School.

22 The Cordillera Review
Dottie Taverner, mission nurse.

Guerilla Priest
23
Chief Puyao’s grave.

24 The Cordillera Review
appealed to the Japanese code of honor that they gave him a funeral
and buried him in the local churchyard (Ordun 1943, 9).
In December, Chief Puyao invited Al, Nessie, and Dottie to
spend Christmas at Maatop. They gratefully accepted his invitation,
weary of their isolated life in the forest and eager to see the Chief,
village friends, and the Morrises. After a full day of hiking, they
reached Maatop late in the afternoon on December 23rd. Chief
Puyao and his family greeted them warmly, and they wept as they
embraced each other.
At Maatop, villagers had cut an immense clearing in the forest
for their huts and gardens. Al was amazed to see that they had
also built a huge two-story structure of bamboo and runo, 30 feet
services, Chief Puyao said, and the second as their guest quarters.
Most villagers were still in Balbalasang harvesting rice, but
they started to arrive at Maatop late in the afternoon on Christmas
Eve and kept coming far into the evening. Carrying bundles of
freshly harvested rice on their heads, they lit their way with pine
torches when it grew dark. Many brought gifts for their guests—
rice, coconuts, squash, and papayas. Food was so plentiful and the
occasion so merry that Al, Nessie, Dottie, and the Morrises were
almost convinced that peace had returned. As the night air grew
Everyone gathered in close around them and sang carols to greet the
coming of Christmas.
Christmas morning Al celebrated Eucharist and he baptized
all the children who had been born in the months of separation.
Afterwards everyone feasted on great quantities of rice, carabao
meat, and Chinese cabbage.
Chief Puyao insisted Al stay at Maatop rather than return to
Diwayan. As an enticement, he gave him a large tract of land for
a garden. Al was delighted. All day long he chopped down small
trees, cleared brush, and pulled up roots. Once the brush dried, he
burned it. Villagers gave him sweet potato cuttings and a variety of
seeds to plant. Al hoped to produce enough food to meet his and
seeds sprouted.
His and Nessie’s moods couldn’t have been better: They were
safe, they were among friends, and they had good living quarters.
The rainy season had ended, the weather was glorious, and the
mountain scenery—rim after rim of forested mountains stretching
into the distance on all sides—often took their breath away. But at
the end of January 1943, a guerrilla arrived at Maatop and asked
for Al. His face was downcast. He handed Al a letter from Captain

Guerilla Priest
25
Al opened it quickly. Hirano wrote that the Imperial Forces
was now impossible for MacArthur to return to the Philippines. He
understood why Al had not surrendered, but if he did so now, he
would transport him and his family to Camp Holmes near Baguio
(where his American friends were “singing and chatting”), and
arrange safe passage to the United States. He ended his letter with a
warning: If Al didn’t surrender immediately, he would be executed
when captured.
Soon another runner arrived with more bad news: Japanese
troops had raided Guinguinabang and captured all the American
guerrillas there. Al suddenly felt very vulnerable. As long as the
guerrillas could hide out, he had felt reasonably secure. He told
Chief Puyao that he would surrender. The Chief said he would call a
meeting with villagers to discuss the matter. “Let the people speak,”
he said. Later that day they did—and they insisted that their Padji
not surrender. Al agreed to honor their request.
The Padji must go even deeper into the forest now, Chief Puyao
said. And he must take two teen-age boys with him. He would be so
far from any village there might be times when food would be very
streams and which plants and roots were edible. Al wasn’t keen on
the idea, fearing the Japanese would pressure the boys’ families to
reveal his whereabouts, but he also knew that he and his family and
Dottie couldn’t exist in the wilds alone, and he accepted the Chief’s
accompany them.
They took just a few necessities with them—clothes, blankets,
pots and pans, and machetes. Al’s guerrillas helped with the move.
For a day and a half they trekked through rugged mountain terrain,
crossing from Kalinga into Abra. Finally, they stopped and made
guerrillas built two huts of bamboo and grass, a larger one for Al,
Nessie, and Dottie, and a smaller one for John and Marcus.
Each morning Al and Nessie rolled up their bed blankets in
case they had to make a quick getaway. Gradually they began to feel
a Saturday in March, two village boys, Juan and Bernadino, arrived
in camp with the news that 200 Japanese troops, led by Captain
Hirano himself, were on their way to Balbalasang from Lubuagan.
Hirano had only one objective: To capture the Padji.

26 The Cordillera Review
Because a few hunters knew the location of their camp, Al
decided to move to a temporary camp a mile and a half away. Juan
and Bernadino returned to Balbalasang, promising to return when
they had more news.
noticed ash drifting over the forest. They feared Captain Hirano had
home, but he pleaded with them to stay, afraid they would be caught
by the Japanese and forced to reveal his whereabouts.
Ash stopped falling the next morning.
Al and Nessie helped Katy hunt for the nest her pet hen Jenny had
made somewhere at the back of their lean-to. Searching carefully,
Katy found it. She was jubilant: It contained four eggs, a treat indeed.
At that moment, Dottie shouted, “Here they are!”
Al grabbed Katy and joined Nessie and Dottie in front of the
lean-to. Thirty Japanese troops faced them—guns and bayonets
drawn. The lieutenant in command shouted at Al to raise his hands.
He quickly gave Katy to Nessie and did so. With the troops were the
fathers of John and Marcus, ropes tied around their waists, forced at
bayonet point to lead the troops to their hiding place.
Unable to contain their fear, John and Marcus bolted into the
back. The boys returned, trembling. The lieutenant slapped each of
them harshly.
Soldiers snatched up Al’s machetes and shouted at Nessie and
Dottie to roll up their blankets and clothes. They bayoneted Nessie’s
Al’s waist and then marched them back to the main camp. There they
tied Al to a machine gun and ordered him to remain standing. They
shoved the women and Katy into the small hut John and Marcus had
used as their sleeping quarters.
Nessie barely had time to catch her breath when a soldier
reached into the hut, grabbed Katy, and drew her outside. Very
anxious, Nessie followed right behind. The soldier seated Katy on a
large rock, put a rice bowl over her head, and cut her hair like that
of a little Japanese girl, short and just below the ears. Katy made no
outcry, much to Nessie’s relief. (Although she was only three at the
time, Katy remembers this incident, recalling that Nessie said to her:
“Don’t cry. If you do, the soldiers will kill me.”)
At noon, the troops made themselves a meal of rice, eggs, and
chicken (Katy’s pet hen Jenny had escaped into the forest). Nessie
approached the lieutenant and signaled she wanted food for Katy. He
waved her away, but later sent her food. Al was given nothing, not
even water, and was forced to remain standing the long afternoon.

Guerilla Priest
27
Inside the lean-to, the soldiers who were guarding Nessie and
Dottie began a game of cards. Nessie watched them closely. Once she
was familiar with the cards, she asked to have them. They handed
her the deck, and she performed a simple card trick, much to their
amusement. They motioned to her to repeat it several times until one
soldier took the deck from her and performed the trick himself. His
companions roared with delight.
At nightfall Al was untied and allowed to join the women. They
were each given a blanket and ordered to crawl under the larger hut
to sleep. Al whispered to Nessie that he was sure he was going to be
shot when he was tied to the machine gun. Later in the afternoon he
made conversation with his guards who knew a little English. He
mentioned he had visited Japan and that there were many Japanese
cherry trees in Washington, D.C. The guards told him the trees had
all been chopped down.
Al and Nessie slept well that night. The nervous tension they
had experienced the week before, worrying about what might be
happening in Balbalasang—and what might happen to them—had
been strangely eased by their capture.
The soldiers woke them before dawn and gave them rice to eat.
They were eager to leave for Balbalasang to present their captives
to Captain Hirano. They re-tied a rope around Al’s waist and gave
him two heavy baskets of rice to carry. Nessie and Dottie took turns
and re-crossing the river many times before reaching the trail. Al fell
repeatedly from the weight of the baskets and the slippery riverbed.
Each time he fell a soldier hit him with the butt of his gun.
No matter the nature of the terrain, the lieutenant would march
them for 50 minutes, and then rest for 10. At noon they stopped for
slower pace, much to Al’s and the women’s relief. When they neared
Inalangan, just two kilometers from Balbalasang, he slowed the
pace even more, and he ordered villagers to march ahead so they
could witness the Padji’s arrival in Balbalasang as a prisoner of the
Japanese Imperial Army.
The lieutenant led them to Chief Puyao’s house, the largest
and most imposing dwelling in the village. Captain Hirano had
established it as his headquarters. The lieutenant lined up his captives
in front of the steps. Standing in the doorway, Captain Hirano called
them to attention at the top of his lungs. Everyone bowed to him.
Nessie began to laugh, much to Al’s annoyance. “I can’t help
it,” she said, “I’m not afraid anymore. Hirano reminds me so much
of my brother-in-law, Tux.”
paunch, just like Tux. Altogether, he was rather distinguished looking.

28 The Cordillera Review
The captain eyed his prisoners carefully, then ordered the
lieutenant to take them beneath the house. Like all Tingguian homes,
beneath could be used to tether livestock, set up a loom for weaving,
or pound rice when it rained. Soldiers had barricaded the space with
bamboo and wire. Al, Nessie, and Dottie were surprised to see that
beds had been prepared for them.
a desk. Al bowed to him, and the Captain returned the courtesy.
Through an interpreter, the Captain ordered Al to write a letter to
Chief Puyao. Tell Puyao, Hirano said, that if he surrenders now, his
property will be protected and he will not be harmed or imprisoned.
He could remain in Balbalasang and help restore law and order. Al
wrote the letter. Once it was translated for the Captain, he was led
back downstairs.
The fathers of John and Marcus had told Al that the Japanese
had burned Puyao’s camp at Maatop, which accounted for the ash
daughters, and the Morrises to the village of Asiga.
Every day Captain Hirano and his men made great demands
on the villagers, eating their rice, butchering their pigs and carabaos,
and drinking their basi. When two weeks passed and the Chief
had still not surrendered, an angry and impatient Captain Hirano
ordered that the Chief’s house be burned. His soldiers quickly
escorted their captives outside and removed tables, chairs, and beds
before setting the house ablaze. Flames crackled, smoke billowed
above the coconut trees, villagers shouted and wept. The Chief’s
house was reduced to ashes in minutes.
Captain Hirano marched over to his captives and announced
that the next day he was sending them, along with hostage members
of Chief’s Puyao’s family, to Bontoc, the capital of the Mountain
Province. There the Padji would stand trial. As for himself, he would
remain behind to capture the Chief.
When they arrived in Bontoc three days later—after a two-day
trek from Balbalasang to Lubuagan, then a 25-mile ride in the back of
“Yes, sir,” Al replied.
“You’re not a good person. You fought the Japanese and killed
many at Lamonan.”
the women into a small room. There they sat on benches, wondering
what would come next. An hour later they were each given a plate
of rice. One of the guards blew up a red balloon and gave it to Katy,

Guerilla Priest
29
to her delight. The afternoon wore on. Al and Nessie grew more and
more tense.
Suddenly they heard the clicking of heels. Guards snapped to
attention and ordered them to rise as Colonel Watanabe entered the
stood erect and glared at Al as if he were the devil himself. Al bowed
to him, but the Colonel did not return the courtesy. He took a seat
behind a desk, ordered his interpreter to stand next to him, and
brusquely motioned the women to sit.
The Colonel pointed to Al and snapped, “You are a priest of the
Church. You are the worst American in Kalinga. Why did you hide in
the mountains so long?”
“I was frightened,” said Al.
“Frightened? Why were you frightened? Japanese are good
people.”
would be killed. I had a bad leg infection. My leg healed after June
1st.”
“You hate us. Why is that?”
“No, I do not hate the Japanese.”
“You gave speeches urging the Tingguian people to hate the
Japanese.”
“I do not hate the Japanese. When I was a youth, I gave money
to help rebuild Tokyo after the 1923 earthquake. My father gave
much money also.”
the interpreter. He handed a letter to Al.
It was from his Bishop in Manila, urging him to surrender.
“I never received this letter,” Al said. “If I had, I would have
surrendered immediately. I’m a priest, and I must obey my Bishop.”
“Instead you joined the guerrillas.”
Al replied that he had been a reserve chaplain before the war
began.
The colonel rose slowly, deliberately, anger rising in his face.
In one quick breath he said to Al, “You will be executed.” Then he
abruptly left the room.
Al had no reaction when he heard the pronouncement. He felt
no emotion. But Nessie shouted at the colonel that if he killed Al, he
could kill her too.
returned and waved a paper he had taken from Al in his face. It
proved Al was a guerrilla, he said, because it bore Major Cushing’s
signature. The signature was not Cushing’s, Al countered, but the
Chief of Chaplains’. The document commissioned him as a chaplain.
Furthermore, it had been signed on July 6, 1941, six months before

30 The Cordillera Review
the start of the war. Al felt exhausted and depressed. Would this
Soldiers took Al and the women to a large brick building that
served as a prison. There they were led to a small jail cell that held
a Filipino and two captured American soldiers. Later that evening
three Chinese men were shoved in with them.
Each morning for two days the men were taken outside, given
shovels, and ordered to dig trenches. After supper on the second day
the routine was broken. The men were ordered back to work. Each
was given a shovel except Al. Had the time come for his execution,
he wondered. Had the other men been given shovels to dig his
grave? Meanwhile, Nessie and Dottie waited breathlessly in their
the trenches .4
The next morning the captives received the very welcome news
that they would be taken to Baguio City. Once they were on their
way, jammed into the back of a truck, Al breathed a huge sigh of
relief. He was sure this meant he was not going to be executed. On
the road to Baguio—with its expansive mountain scenery—even
their guards seemed happy. They asked their captives to sing, and
sing they did: two of Al’s favorites, “Oh, Susannah” and “Alouette,”
plus many others. Singing was such a release: Al and Nessie felt that
nothing could be worse than what they had just been through.
At Baguio the prisoners were driven to Camp John Hay and
divided into two groups—those destined for a military POW camp
in Cabanatuan, Nueva Ecija Province and those destined for Camp
Holmes, a civilian POW camp. Because of his guerrilla activity, Al
feared he would be sent to Cabanatuan, but he was ordered to Camp
Holmes with the women. Set on a wooded hillside with a distant
view of the Lingayen Gulf, the camp was just a few kilometers from
from Camp John Hay.
“He asks me to tell you that he knows you are a military man,”
Miss Spencer said to Al. “But because you have a family, he is making
a special concession and allowing you to enter Camp Holmes.”
said Al.
and made their way to the camp’s barracks where old friends greeted
them warmly. It was Palm Sunday, 1943, 16 months into the war.

Guerilla Priest
31
Liberation
During their twenty months of internment, Al, Nessie,
and Dottie never talked about Al’s participation in the guerrilla
movement. They kept it secret, both to protect themselves and their
American friends still hiding out.
One day a car unexpectedly drove into camp. With much
shouting and snapping to attention at the guardhouse, Al and Nessie
knew someone of importance had arrived. They walked over to see
up from his seat, shouted, and motioned for them to approach. It
was Captain Hirano. He greeted them like long-lost friends. Next
them a frosty smile without speaking when they bowed.
The next day Al and Nessie were even more surprised when
they received another unexpected visitor, Kazuo Fujihara, one of
their captors. He had come expressly to see Katy. He had been very
kind to her, allowing her to accept eggs from villagers, and picking
wild strawberries for her on the long trek from Balbalasang to
Lubuagan. They conversed with him for some time through their
interpreter Miss Spencer. Before he departed he said that he would
like to leave a little gift for Katy. He had meant to bring her milk but
could not buy any. Would Nessie accept a small gift of money to buy
her extra food? Nessie hesitated for a moment, wondering what her
fellow internees might think, and then accepted the gift in the spirit
camp store.
In late December 1944, Camp Holmes internees were transferred
to Bilibid Prison in Manila, most likely at the direct order of
General Tomoyuki Yamashita. The “Tiger of Malaya” had arrived
in the Philippines to take command of the Japanese forces just two
weeks before General MacArthur landed on Leyte in October 1944.
Knowing that the war was lost, his strategy was to slow the American
advance to Japan by mounting his defense of the Philippines in the
mountains of northern Luzon. Clearly, he wanted the internees out
of harm’s way. In January 1945, he established his headquarters in
Baguio (Hastings 2008, 122, 223, and 227).
MacArthur’s 37th Infantry landed at Lingayen Gulf on January
9, 1945 and swept down the central Luzon plain to Manila. There
Sixth Army found itself committed to a street-by-street, often houseby-house
struggle against suicidal Japanese resistance” (Hastings
2008, 231). The Japanese did not hesitate to kill Filipino civilians who
got in their way while many other civilians died under American

32 The Cordillera Review
Japanese, and 100,000 civilians (Hastings 2008, 237-38).
Bilibid was liberated on February 4, 1945. To the internees, it
that they had sewn in secret. Nessie had sewn the star for Oregon.
voyage aboard the Klipfontein, they arrived in San Francisco on a
glorious spring day in April. They took a train to Oregon and settled
in the small coastal community of Nelscott to recover from their
wartime ordeal.
Sadly, three of their Christmas 1941 dinner guests did not
survive the war. Six weeks after capturing Al and his family, the
Japanese captured the Morris family. Garnett Morris was placed in
a military POW camp, and his wife and children were interned at
Camp Holmes. While ironing one afternoon, Dolly, who was in her
early thirties, collapsed from a heart attack and died instantly. Surely
Towards the end of the war, desperate for factory labor, the
Japanese shipped thousands of military POWs to Japan, including
Garnett Morris and Cushing’s mining partner, Pee Wee Ordun.
Prisoners were kept in holds below deck to avoid aerial detection.
They had no fresh air and were given little water or food. On
December 13, 1944, the ship Morris and Ordun were aboard was
bombed and sunk by the U.S. Air Force in the Sea of Japan. Both men
lost their lives, along with hundreds of other POWs.
Compared to other civilian POWs in the Philippines, Al and
Nessie’s wartime experiences—and ultimately their survival—were
shaped by very unusual circumstances. First, was Balbalasang’s
extreme isolation. News was slow to reach the village, and mail often
went missing. As a consequence, Al never received the letter from his
Bishop telling him not to get involved with the guerrillas. Second, Al
was a Chaplain in the U.S. Army Reserve. He saw his participation
in the guerrilla movement as a natural extension of this role. Third,
the dynamic guerrilla leader Walter Cushing operated a mine not
far from Balbalasang. He was a neighbor of sorts and had visited Al
and Nessie before the war, striking up a friendship. Fourth, Al and
the mission nurse Dottie Taverner were well liked and respected by
Chief Puyao and the Balbalasang people. Throughout the war the
Chief and villagers took great personal risks to feed and hide them.
strong-willed, and unstintingly loyal to America. His support of
the guerrilla movement was steadfast. He consistently urged Al
not to surrender, and refused to surrender himself even when the
Japanese took members of his family hostage. Furthermore, he was a

Guerilla Priest
33
Concepcion was a spy for the Japanese.
Sixth, Al and Nessie’s young daughter Katy was a delight. She
reminded her Japanese captors of the children and siblings they had
left behind. The soldiers went out of their way to give her treats
and extra food. Her presence helped personalize the relationship
between captor and captive and may have been key to the Japanese
placing Al in a civilian internment camp, rather than a military camp.
Seventh, Colonel Watanabe, who condemned Al to death,
1999, 89). Al was not aware of this fact (and I only learned of it
recently). Did their shared faith contribute to Watanabe’s decision
not to execute him? We’ll never know, but Watanabe’s religious faith
certainly adds irony to his encounter with the Padji. Watanabe gave
Al the royal chewing out he expected to receive from his Bishop for
getting involved with the guerrillas.
But perhaps a more important factor in Watanabe’s decision not
to execute Al was his awareness—based on Concepcion’s report—
that the Padji was well regarded by Chief Puyao and the Tingguian
people. Executing him would have angered them greatly, further
Within a year of his repatriation, Al returned to the Philippines,
six weeks before I was born in May 1946. Nessie followed a year
later with the children. Dottie also returned to the Philippines after
recovering at her home in England.
Prior to his return, Al worked tirelessly in Oregon to accumulate
boxes and boxes of clothing, medical supplies, food, and seeds for
Balbalasang villagers. He requested donations from relief agencies,
churches, relatives, and friends.
As he sailed back to the Philippines, he wrote his memoir of
the war years. And from Balbalasang he wrote Nessie that he was
busy rebuilding the mission and helping villagers with their war
damage claims. Sadly, he reported that Chief Puyao was bedridden
and not expected to live. The Chief had surrendered not long after
Al and Nessie were interned. The Japanese had summoned him to
But Chief Puyao was stronger than anyone realized, and he
lived two and a half more years. At the Chief’s request, Al founded
St. Paul’s Memorial High School, built on a hillside next to the
church plaza. The school memorialized three Balbalasang men who

34 The Cordillera Review
died in combat during the war. Frederick Dao-ayan served as the
headmaster, and Nessie taught a few of the English classes.
Great was the mourning and great the celebration of his life
when Chief Puyao died on November 2, 1949. In accordance with
Tingguian custom, his body was bathed, dressed, and seated in
an armchair on a bamboo platform in the main room of his home.
His feet rested on an ancient Chinese jar embossed with dragons.
Strands of agate and gold draped from his head. In his lap were
Lucky Strikes—plus a box of matches. At his right were two Spanish
mahogany canes, each crested in silver, and a Japanese samurai
sword. A wreath of marigold, bougainvillea, and calla lilies hung
from the ceiling above his head, the lilies forming a cross. Displayed
on the back wall were red Tingguian horse blankets and two of the
to ceiling against the entire wall were bundles of palay (unhusked
rice), evidence of his great wealth.
Visitors from throughout Kalinga and beyond arrived to pay
their respects. With the help of neighbors and friends, Chief Puyao’s
family roasted pigs and carabaos and cooked huge quantities of
rice to feed their many, many guests. At his wife’s request, Al held
vespers every evening at the Chief’s house. Afterwards villagers
and visitors entertained themselves throughout the night, drinking
sugarcane wine, singing, dancing—and challenging each other to
games of physical endurance.
Chief Puyao’s funeral was held the fourth day after his death.
The Padji conducted the service at St. Paul’s Church, which the
Chief had been instrumental in bringing to his people. The Chief
was accorded full Philippine military honors because he had served
volley in his honor. The Padji and Fr. Theodore Saboy, a Balbalasang
villager ordained to the Episcopal priesthood, led the procession,
Chief Puyao had asked that he be buried at the site of his former
home, which Captain Hirano had burned to the ground. His grave
this last great Tingguian chief. He had led his people ably in peace
and war.

Guerilla Priest
35
1. Both my parents wrote memoirs of the war for my sister and me to have.
My father wrote his in 1946. He ends his narrative with their arrival in
prison camp. My mother wrote hers in the early 1950s. Her narrative
includes her prison camp experience as well as the three years we lived
in Balbalasang after the war. I have based my essay on their two accounts.
They are more the authors of it than I am.
2. The reference here is to the old Mountain Province, created by the
American colonial government in 1908 and originally composed of the
subprovinces of Amburayan, Apayao, Benguet, Bontoc, Ifugao, Kalinga,
and Lepanto. In 1966 the old Mountain Province was divided into four
regular provinces—Benguet, Ifugao, Kalinga-Apayao, and Mountain
Province (now referring to the old subprovince of Bontoc).
3.
November 1937, and American women and children returned to
Shanghai. Until Pearl Harbor, the International Settlement of Shanghai
(the Anglo-American concession) remained a sort of isolated island
where Westerners lived fairly normal lives. The pro-cathedral of St.
John’s was a mile west of the Settlement, but British troops included it in
their defense perimeter.
4.
on-camera (see quote, page 1). In the on-camera interview he may have
been referring to his initial reaction when Japanese soldiers handed him
here occurred at the end of his second day of imprisonment in Bontoc.
Cogan, Frances B. 2000. Captured: The Japanese Internment of American
. Athens, GA: University of Georgia
Press.
Concepcion. 1942. “Summary of Instructions from Colonel Nakashima to
Major Cushing.” Unpublished manuscript.
Death, Escape & Liberation: POWs in the Philippines During World War II.
[2005]. Julian, CA: Traditions Military Videos. DVD.
Fry, Howard T. 2006. Rev. ed. Quezon
City: New Day Publishers.
Hastings, Max. 2008. . New York:
Alfred A Knopf.
Norling, Bernard. 1999. The Intrepid Guerrillas of North Luzon. Lexington,

36 The Cordillera Review
KY: The University Press of Kentucky.
Ordun, M.B. 1943. “Walter M. Cushing: Guerrilla Leader and Hero of
the Ilocos Provinces.” Cabanatuan Prison Camp No. 1, May 22.
Unpublished manuscript.
Worcester, Dean C. 1914. The Philippines Past and Present. Vol. 2. The
Macmillan Company.