Many desperate acts of courage and heroism have fallen under my observation on many fields of battle in many parts of the world. I have seen last-ditch stands and innumerable acts of personal heroism that defy description, but for sheer breathtaking and heart-stopping desperation, I have never known the equal of those Igorots. Gentlemen, when you tell that story, stand in tribute to these gallant Igorots.

– Gen. Douglas MacArthur

Sources: Time Magazine article and Scott

Of Igorots and independence : Two essays / William Henry Scott [illustrations by Alex Aguilar]
Baguio City : A-Seven Publishing, 1993

Soon after the election. Jack Kennedy called his closest advisers together in Palm Beach for a session on Cabinetmaking. His instructions were succinct: “I want to get the best men I can for these Cabinet jobs, and I don’t care if they are Democrats, Republicans or Igorots.” Kennedy’s lieutenants thereupon set forth on the great man hunt. It was a long, laborious and tedious process, checking out the past performances and future potentialities of dozens of men. There were grumblings that Kennedy was vacillating and taking a long time with the job.* But when he fed out the last of his Cabinet choices last week, there was widespread agreement that he had assembled some promising advisers and executives.

Source: Time Magazine article

Read Vincent Cabreza’s article on the first Igorot general.

Brig. Gen. Pedro Baban
Philippine Military Academy Class of 1940
La Trinidad Agricultural High School 1935 (now Benguet State University)