On a very remotely associated point, this is the second time that I have heard the mention of the Ilongot people this week; the first being the Spanish movie "1898, Our Last Men in the Philippines." This was about the actual siege of a church in Baler (in Luzon), where 50 Spanish soldiers held out against 800 Ilongot for almost a year after Spain had left the Philippines.
The movie does take some poetic license and leaves some important events unexplained such as one of the Spanish soldiers encounters dead American soldiers and the explanation from the Philippine General was "that now we are at war with the Americans."The statement may be true, but the reason why the Americans were in that area was to rescue the Spaniards, the scouting party was ambushed, some were killed and others were taken prisoner.Also, according to what I read, the deserter was not a benign individual but played an active part in divulging the weaknesses of the fort and directing effective cannon fire.
In conclusion, it was a powerful movie, well worth seeing and I learned of an event that I previously had no knowledge of.
|