Unsung hero helps tell Benguet history

	INQUIRER NORTHERN LUZON Unsung hero helps tell Benguet history
	By Maurice Malanes Philippine Daily Inquirer
	Posted date: August 19, 2008
	MANKAYAN, Benguet – Then First Lady Esperanza Osmeña, wife of President Sergio Osmeña Sr., had baptized an Igorot soldier “Robin Hood,” not because of what the hero stood for but because of his height (almost six feet) and agility as he helped evacuate the First Family during World War II. “It was not clear to me now why the First Lady would call me Robin Hood,” says Amando Bolislis, now 88. “But I remember the First Lady suggesting that in case of promotion, ‘Robin Hood’ should be included.” Bolislis was one of those nameless, if not faceless, soldiers who helped rescue the Osmeñas in September 1943. From the Presidential Mansion in Baguio City, Bolislis and other soldiers took the First Family, as well as eight maids and two nurses, to safety in what was known as Camp Shangrila in the village of Sarat in Kapangan, Benguet. “From time to time, we had to carry on our backs or on stretchers the First Lady and other members of the family if we had to cross rivers or pass through muddy trails,” says Bolislis, who was then only 23. Now with gray hair and some teeth missing, Bolislis and his wife, Esther, would travel from their house in Cervantes, Ilocos Sur, to visit some of their children in Mankayan, Benguet, where he retired in 1980 as a security chief at Lepanto Consolidated Mining Co. A native of Kibungan town, Bolislis was among the young Igorot people who enlisted to fight the invading Japanese Imperial Army in the last war. In the jungles between Kapangan in Benguet and Bagulin in La Union, he was inducted on Oct. 9, 1942, as a rifleman of B Company, 43rd Infantry of the Philippine Scouts under Capt. Parker Calvert. Dangerous mission After training for six months on military tactics under Guilabo Caday-as of Kibungan and Sgt. Emilio Velasco of Mt. Province, Bolislis engaged in intelligence gathering and ambuscades against the Japanese along what used to be called Mountain Trail (now Halsema Highway) and in Baguio and La Trinidad. Bolislis did his first most dangerous mission in March 1943: To deliver an important letter to an Igorot sergeant in Bontoc, Mt. Province. The sergeant, in turn, would relay the message to Col. Donald Blackburn, an American officer of the 11th Infantry Regiment who escaped from Bataan and went to Kiangan, Ifugao, to lead a guerrilla force there. From Kapangan, Bolislis would have to deliver the message by foot. Donning only a g-string in which the carefully rolled letter was concealed and a blanket wrapped around his body, the barefoot soldier took an early breakfast, uttered a silent prayer, and embarked on his mission. His first obstacle was a Japanese checkpoint at Kilometer 90 in Buguias, Benguet. A Japanese sentry stopped and studied the tall, lanky Igorot in g-string. The Japanese got a shovel and barked, “Come, follow me!” Bolislis was frightened. He thought he would be digging his own grave. But the Japanese ushered him to a hill where he was asked to dig and gather roots of cogon grass. After gathering about half a kilo of cogon roots, Bolislis was asked to wash these so the Japanese could brew it in a big pot of boiling water. The roots, Bolislis discovered, were for tea. The Japanese allowed Bolislis to leave. “He kicked me in the butt before letting me go,” he says. He continued his journey until another Japanese sentry stopped him in Mount Data. After studying Bolislis from head to foot, the Japanese let him go. Crazy “With my getup, he must have thought I was crazy,” he says. “But again he kicked me from behind before letting me leave.” It was almost dark when Bolislis reached Dantay, a village at a junction leading to the towns of Sagada and Bontoc. He went to a house where an elderly couple, surnamed Bawingan, welcomed and hosted him for the night. The man, he found out, used to be a soldier at Camp Holmes (now Camp Dangwa) in La Trinidad. The next day, Bolislis proceeded to Bontoc. Not far from the town, he noticed a wooden drum being filled with water from a dripping spring. A Japanese sentry appeared and stopped Bolislis, ordering him to carry the drum before he was asked to leave. It was mid-morning when Bolislis reached Bontoc. He was instructed to look for a red house and to ask for “Wasay,” actually an alias for one Sergeant Anongos. When he got hold of the letter, Anongos told Bolislis: “This letter could have cost your life.” To this, Bolislis replied, “Kabunian (God) was on my side.” The letter, it turned out, contains an operation plan for guerrilla warfare. With his first mission accomplished, Bolislis was promoted from private first class to corporal when he reported to his superiors at Camp Shangrila. Another mission Bolislis was given another risky mission in December 1944: To get a sketch of the Lepanto mine in Mankayan, particularly pointing where the powerhouse stood. The Japanese had taken over the Lepanto copper and gold mines and the US Armed Forces in the Far East-Northern Luzon had intended to bomb the area. From Sinipsip village in the Bakun-Buguias border, Bolislis, also wearing a g-string and a blanket, was able to integrate with vegetable vendors. Disguising himself as a porter, he and the vendors trooped to Lepanto. He was able to enter the tightly guarded mining compound. But a Filipino Japanese collaborator became suspicious of Bolislis and brought him to a junkyard where he was tortured. He failed in his mission, but the sketch of the Lepanto powerhouse was so important that his superiors ordered him to return to Lepanto. He took another route, passing through Ampusongan village in Bakun town. From a mountain vantage point, he got a good view of the Lepanto mine with its powerhouse. He got the sketch. With the mission accomplished, he was promoted to second lieutenant. More battles Bolislis and other local soldiers joined the fierce battles in Lepanto and Mankayan, and along the Mountain Trail, which was still controlled by the Japanese in 1945. After seeing action in many battles in 1945, Bolislis fell ill and was taken to Mt. Pulag to rest and recuperate. While recovering, Bolislis got a mission order from Capt. Dennis Molintas: To evacuate to safety some 5,000 residents, including women and children, in Bokod, Benguet. He led all residents to safe grounds after crossing the Agno River and climbing Mt. Buhaw in Bokod. “The only casualty was a carabao (water buffalo),” he recalls. Bolislis left the service on May 7, 1946, and went home to Kibungan where he was welcomed with a traditional thanksgiving feast. Having finished only Grade 3, Bolislis, who speaks good English, would tell of his war exploits during family and clan reunions or parties. His story forms part of the still untold or unwritten stories of local soldiers, who helped liberate Benguet from the Japanese on Aug. 15, 1945, a historic day for the province.