THE STORY OF FIVE MONTHS - A PERSPECTIVE AFTER 31 YEARS

written by Rolando Quiros Mallari MD

©Mallari,RQ 

Disclaimer: This is a true story. This is based on my experiences when I volunteered as a community health doctor in the then Balbalan, Kalinga-Apayao now Balbalan-Kalinga. The names of the people in the story were changed to protect their anonymity. I may have a different recall of my account on these  experiences and the other protagonists may share their stories too in the comments section or other means. Thirty-one years have passed and the aging mind may not give out the details of what I went through but I need to write this to put a document to this once-in-life experience.

Prologue

This is a true story. I have wanted to write my memoirs on this episode of my life but somehow I have not managed to scribble the words. Probably, it is because of the diary I kept in relation to this experience. But it has been 31 years and so many things have changed. I couldn’t find the diary I kept about my experiences. Our foster mother and foster sister have died. The other members of team that shared this wonderful experience have also gone beyond. The other people we met have become part of history. The children we carried on our backs and even the children we have delivered are now adults and have their own families. The people whom we have shared our lives in the July till December of 1986 may not remember us but we still remember them. Thirty-one years is a long time. It may have changed the topography of the place. It may have changed the total look of the place. But it is good to reminisce the yester-years so that when someone of the present reads this, they can share what is today from what of yesterday. 

This is my story. This is what I remember. I enjoin the others to share their memories as I walk down memory lane. This is my Balbalan, Kalinga sojourn.

CHAPTER I

IN THE MIDST OF THE CLOUDS

It was a good Sunday morning. The sun was up after three days of strong rains. It was the first time I attended the morning mass at the St. Lucy's Parish Church in Aringay, La Union after long years of being away. I went to offer a thanksgiving prayer after taking the board examination for doctors that June. The results will be released on the first week of December that year. I got this funny feeling. It seemed like I only went to church when praying for concessions. Don't get me wrong, deep inside, I am a very spiritual person as compared to being religious. The mass had ended. I took time greeting people I knew and paying respect to older relatives who attended the mass. When the great mass of people thinned out, 

I slowly walked towards the church door. I saw a newspaper boy selling his wares in front of the church. I picked the Sunday edition of the Inquirer and read what was emblazoned as the headline, "Balweg forms CPLA." I walked through the nearby bakery and bought the quintessential Filipino bread -the pandesal. Manong (term of endearment for a make person older than you) Julius, owns the bakery and offered me to have a cup of coffee. I obliged as I was not going to do anything. It was a vacation of some sort after finishing 5 grueling years of medical school. I took a seat at a nearby corner while I savored the brewed coffee prepared by him. Every now and then, he interjected a conversation despite being busy serving his loyal bakery customers. I looked at the newspaper where the headline was. Balweg was a renegade priest. His full name was Fr. Conrado Balweg. He joined the New People's Army in the hope of emancipating the Filipino peasants. Now that the touted EDSA Revolution that suddenly propped Ninoy Aquino widow, Cory Aquino to lead the revolutionary government, he had thought of severing his ties with the communist armed group. He is now leading a movement for the genuine autonomy of the Cordillera, hence the name Cordillera People's Liberation Army for its armed group and the Cordillera Bodong Association as the organization. I looked at the magazine insert of the newspaper. He was also featured in the magazine together with Phillip Salvador who played him in the movie "Balweg." I stopped reading the article when I finished my cup of coffee. I graciously thanked Manong Julius and walked towards home which was around the 600 meters away from the bakery. 

I did the customary Ilokano greetings to the old folks at home. I told my mother that I had my pandesal breakfast at the bakery already. It was then that my mother told me that the man from the telegraph office sent a message for me. It was a telegram from my friend asking me to go back to Manila on the specified date if I am interested to do volunteer medical work. I told my parents about the telegram and they said, they would support whatever decision that I make. Hence, after just a week at home, I was off to Manila to join the list of medical volunteers to different parts of the country typically not reached by a doctor. 

We were the first batch of doctors under the Cory administration. We were a group of idealistic soon-to-be doctors. But my friends had other things in mind. Aside from doing service, they would want to add adventure and vacation in the list of their purposes. These friends of mine had travelled with me to Sagada and we were mesmerized with the utopian beauty of the place. We were hoping that Sagada is one of the places where volunteers were assigned but unluckily it was not on the list. We were looking for other places near our mountain paradise and the place that showed in our map is Balbalan, Kalinga-Apayao. Kalinga-Apayao used to be a single province but eventually separated after some years. Unknown to us, the area we chose is very much farther from Sagada. 

Note:
Those who own the pictures I have used and does not want to appear in this blog, please e-mail me at rqmallari60@gmail.com and I would be more than willing to remove them. Thank you.