Oct 25, 2019 at 05:07 am

God's Mountain

Update posted by Adolf Reich Palabrica

The Taaw’t Bato

(People of the Rock)

During the Marcos era, I got to visit a lost tribe called the Taaw't Bato (People of the Rock) in Palawan, flying Italian photographers who were guests of Manuel Elizalde jr. under Panamin (Presidential Arm for National Minorities), and this is a real true-to-life adventure story.

I was flying the Messerschmitt-Bolkow-Blohm Bo-105C, a twin-engine helicopter from the Phil. Aerospace Development Company. My original assignment was to fly for an American company, AMOCO. They had a research ship in Puerto Princesa, and I was to be at the beck and call of the AMOCO Far East manager (I forgot his title). Top brass. A very nice fellow, he gave me a personally guided tour of the research vessel. That ship was crammed with electronics. If a fish farted in the bottom of the sea under it, an instrument would pick it up.

Early the next morning, he tells me that he has "lent" my services to the Philippine Navy. I was disappointed. He should have asked me first, knowing what can happen when aircraft are "borrowed," especially by our armed forces, and I told him so. He didn't understand, and anyway, the deal was struck. I was to report back to him when we got back the same day.

I met the General (I forget his name) who explained the mission: to fly the PANAMIN guests to the naval facility at Brooke's Point, and on to a camp in Mt. Matalingahan established by Philippine Marines for our safety, which was inside the basin of an extinct volcano. The Italian photographers were to be escorted by anthropologists from the University of the Philippines, but flown separately. Two Bell Jet Ranger helicopters would assemble at Brooke's Point to ferry them to film the Taaw't Bato.

I would be the lead, because the Italians would ride with me for safety, since the BO-105C was the only helicopter that had two engines, and the power to do the job. The Army helicopters, Bell UH-1H "Hueys" (ex-Vietnam) were not up to the task. They were too large and lacked the power. Well, they could, but with a very light load of fuel, not enough to get to where they could refuel, once they got in. Hacking a corridor for them in thick jungle would upset the Taaw't Bato. A marine lieutenant would ride beside me with a radio he would use to contact his men on the ground. Properly briefed, we were off to Brooke's Point. Upon landing, I noticed three other helicopters, Hueys. Some Naval Facility that was! There was nothing there but makeshift huts to provide some shade beside a grass runway. There was fuel which was brought by the Hueys. I was given directions only when airborne, given by hand by the lieutenant, and soon we were circling, looking for a smoke signal, while he spoke to his men on his radio. "There!" he said, and I saw a wisp of smoke coming from the treetops. One could all too easily miss it. The lieutenant motioned me down. Through a narrow gap in the jungle canopy, I saw a riverbed, part of which was rocky and could support the Bolkow. There was only one marine visible, and his fatigues were in tatters. He was giving us the “all clear” signal. I started descending through the trees, and I measured their height, using the altimeter when we landed. The trees were three hundred feet tall. I looked up, and couldn't see the sky above me. We descended through some really thick jungle and touched down. The marine motioned for me to shut down the engines, so I throttled back to idle and looked around. I couldn't see anyone else there besides that one marine. Properly cooled, I could now shut down the engines, and reluctantly did so. Only when the rotor blades came to a stop, did I see faces looking at us from parted vegetation. It was the Taaw't Bato, scrutinizing us. I am always last to leave the aircraft because of the shutdown procedure. When I got out of the aircraft, five of the Taaw't Bato were looking at me in amazement. This was quite a moment for me until I figured out my flying glasses, which were mirrorized, was the cause for their attention. I took them off immediately and saw them visibly relax. I showed them the glasses, and it was a great icebreaker. We all relaxed.

Part two

Sometimes, I do things spontaneously and realize later on it was just the right thing to do. I stepped towards the five, saying my name and bowing my head slightly, "Hernan," and putting my palm to my chest, then pointing to a Taaw't Bato. He got it. He was no dummy "Ti'gbong," he said. "L'omihay," said the next one. These are the closest phonetical sounds of their names. I remembered these two because they wouldn't leave my side. They carried long wooden blowpipes, and a covered bamboo receptacle on their belt which contained the poison for their darts. The others were called away by the translator/guide as requested by the Filipino Anthropologist. We watched as these Taaw't Bato were asked to draw certain things and the film crew did their thing. I found a smooth rock in the shade beside the riverbed and sat down. To ease the boredom, I took out my wallet and showed Ti'g and L'omi (I'll call them that here for brevity) a picture of my girlfriend, and again gestured putting my palm on my chest. Tig stood up, gestured with open palm facing me, and vanished into the jungle. Lomi just smiled. Not ten minutes passed, and Tig was back with a stunningly beautiful girl clad with only a loincloth. Tig gestured with a palm to his chest, indicating his betrothed. I bowed to her and smiled at Tig with a nod to indicate my approval. He smiled and again vanished into the jungle with his wife. Tig was tall. He was about 170 cms tall, and his hair was smooth. His features were sharp and his nose was not flat, and his limbs were long. All of them had cat-like movements. He was back in a flash, and I heard no sound of his movement through the jungle.

I was called for "lunch" and was given two ham and cheese sandwiches, courtesy of the Marines. I then asked why the Marines' fatigues were in tatters. All of the five had tattered fatigues, although the fabric still looked new. Tired and haggard faces looked at me. One of them said it wasn't easy to get there by land. "There is only one passage into the basin, and only one out." I was given a soda, asked for another sandwich and went back to my smooth rock. I offered Tig and Lomi a sandwich each, which they took and ate. They thanked me by saying something, and smiling. They took a drink from the riverbed. That water was clean, but too many horror stories about drinking water from the jungle kept me to my soda.

Lomi scampered up a tree like a cat and began tossing green fruit to Tig and the other Taaw't Bato. I couldn't identify the fruit, so I gestured to Lomi with a finger, and the palm to chest. He tossed me one. I looked to see how they were eating it, and they peeled back the skin with their teeth. I tried that. No go, the skin was a bit thick, so I pulled out my Swiss knife, unfolded the blade, peeled the fruit, and took a bite. If you have ever had a "WOW!" moment eating something for the first time, this was it for me. It was a wild mango, and it was so delicious, the juice burst out the sides of my mouth. To this day I haven't tasted anything like it. Tig took an interest to my Swiss knife, so I demonstrated how all the tools could fold into the handle. He was genuinely impressed. So I handed it to him, all folded, for safety. I wanted to see his blowgun, and he handed it to me, no problem. I later learned this was a show of trust not to be taken lightly. As he was examining the Swiss knife, I looked down the bore of his blowgun. I was genuinely amazed. The bore was straight and true, without any bend, however slight. Tig was looking at me with a smile as I handed him back his blowgun. He made a gesture indicating he wanted to have the Swiss knife. Thoughts raced through my head.

Stay tuned for part 3.


Captain Hernan C. Mapua

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