Signed on December 19, 1974

MALACAÑANG

MANILA

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE PHILIPPINES

RESERVING FOR NATIONAL PARK PURPOSES

A PARCEL OF LAND OF THE PUBLIC DOMAIN

SITUATED IN THE BARRIO OF BALBALASANG,

MUNICIPALITY OF BALBALAN,

PROVINCE OF KALINGA-APAYAO, ISLAND OF LUZON.

This presidential proclamation effectively safeguarded the Vanaw forestlands from the depredations of logging and mining companies from the '70s to the present.

It was initiated by the late Augustus Ulat Saboy who was alarmed when in the middle of 1973 the Philippine government, through the Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources (DANR), granted the Cellophil Resources Corporation (CRC) logging rights over almost 10,000 hectares of pine forests in the province of Abra and the subprovinces of Kalinga and Apayao.

He had to find a way to stop the logging company from destroying the verdant mountains of his ancestors. Fortunately, as executive secretary to former Congressman Almazan who was a close friend of then President Ferdinand Edralin Marcos, he presented his case to the congressman and convinced him to have the president sign a proclamation to protect the Vanaw forestlands. Convinced, the congressman asked Mr. Saboy to draft the proclamation which eventually became Proclamation No. 1357.

Proclamation No. 1357, s. 1974

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HISTORY OF ST. PAUL'S MISSION

IN BALBALASANG

BY FATHER THEODORE ULAT SABOY

This unpublished 8-page typewritten article was written by the late Fr. Theodore Ulat Saboy, the first Kalinga Anglican priest. Click the button below to download.

HISTORY OF SPM BY FATHER SABOY

I had known uncle Theodore as kind, soft-spoken, and always concerned about others' welfare. I no longer remember the circumstances of this letter, but this was probably the last handwritten letter he ever made before his death. I will continue to deeply appreciate that he would still take the time to write this letter amidst his physical pains.

FATHER SABOY'S

PERSONAL LETTER,

16 JANUARY 1995

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THE OLD FORGE

IN INALLANGAN, BALBALASANG

(1922)

BY FAYE -COOPER COLE

"The finest headaxes and spear-points made in northwestern Luzon (Philippine Islands) come from Balbalasang and the other villages of the upper Buklok, or Saltan river, just at the boundary between the Tinguian and Kalinga tribes".

So wrote the American anthropologist Faye-Cooper Cole in his 1922 publication, The Philippine Forge Group. Here, he describes how the Vanaw people craft metal implements with their locally designed forge.

Vanaw elders like Gabriel Dalipog and Royce Lingbawan often tell me that Vanaw was once the center of weapons making in Kalinga which was, according to them, a major reason why other Kalinga groups at the time would go to Vanaw "tapnu makavjong kan jataku" (to forge a peace pact with us).

I suppose this notion of ancient arms production among the Vanaw finds support in this paper of the American anthropologist Fay-Cooper Cole (8 August 1881 – 3 September 1961).