|
HalfMooner
Dingaling
Philippines
15831 Posts |
 Posted - 03/12/2012 : 02:44:33
|
A tribal war in Kalinga Province between two tribes of the Kalinga people has been simmering for years, with quite a few deaths.
Also, an indigenous Igorot breakaway faction of the New Peoples Army (NPA), the Cordillera Peoples Liberation Army (CPLA), has reportedly occupied the Baguio Dairy Farm, right here in the City.
Among the Igorot people, the Kalingas have a fierce reputation. For centuries, they were (in)famous as relentless head-hunters.
Original Kalinga ganstas.
Some Kalinga homes still have the skulls of enemies displayed in places of honor. Some of the older brass gongs used in dance ceremonies have handles made of human jawbones. The Kalingas even designed a specialized axe made just for lopping off heads:
In recent years, headhunting hasn't been known, and the Kalingas use assault rifles, not head axes. Progress.
The most recent tribal fighting is said by the Philippine authorities (example in link) to have ended, but they habitually downplay tribal warfare. At least one man who is accused of a murder in the most recent fighting is still being hunted by authorities.
My honest guess is that these tribal wars have never stopped for long, if ever, and are continuing. The news media cover many truces, but rarely mention resumption of fighting. That makes me suspicious. Seems to me there should be a rough sort of numeric equality between the number of tribal wars and the number of truces. But it seems there are instead often truces announced in wars that were never publicized. Authorities and media alike here prefer to deny or minimize anything that might make the Philippines (and especially their local turf) look like anything but a peaceful and progressive land.
The warfare seems to be at largely between some two neighboring tribes, often, but not always, both of them Kalinga tribes. I've heard that between two primary tribal villages, there is often an effective no-man's-land where people cannot safely visit for crop cultivation or wood-gathering, for fear of being shot.
Visiting outsiders are said to be safe, so long as they aren't mistaken for an enemy tribe member in some tribesman's rifle sight. Tribal conflict have also been acerbated by the participation of local paramilitaries and rebel groups.
The Cordillera Peoples Liberation Army (CPLA) is for the most part not a tribal-war group, but a revolutionary army that had supposedly laid down their weapons and made peace with the Philippine government in 1986, but the local group seems to be a breakaway from the CPLA, itself an NPA off-shoot, and it's unclear whether the Baguio Dairy Farm is or is not an armed rebel compound.
"Programs! Get your programs hee-ah! You can't know the play-ahs without a program!"
Yes, the natives are restless, but probably no more than usual.
|
“Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive. |
Edited by - HalfMooner on 03/12/2012 02:49:54
|
|
The Natives are Restless
