This Week’s Milestones: April 18-24, 2021
April 20, 1945
The town of Pikit in Cotabato province was liberated from the invading Japanese forces by the Allied Forces and Filipino guerrillas. The 21st Infantry deployed landing crafts to navigate the Mindanao River, the country’s second largest also known as Rio Grande de Mindanao, but were met by the enemy along the waterway. This prompted a reinforcement by the 34th Infantry, who led the assault on Fort Pikit that was occupied by the Japanese Imperial Army. Fort Pikit was eventually captured and the Japanese retreated to the mountains, thanks to the coordination of residents and the guerrillas.
April 22, 2019
RV Kasarinlan, the first research vessel of the University of the Philippines’ Marine Science Institute, started its two-week expedition to Kalayaan Island Group to study marine ecosystems in the West Philippine Sea. It carried a 74-member team led by Deo Florence Onda, chief scientist of the all-Filipino scientific expedition called “Protect WPS.” The study, conducted in partnership with the Biodiversity Management Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources of the Department of Agriculture, sought to assess the role of Kalayaan in the country’s food security and generate data that would help assert the country’s claim in the contested waters.
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
April 23, 2017
A steel marker honoring the heroes in the fight against the Chico River dam project in Kalinga province during the Marcos regime was unveiled in the town of Tinglayan. Built at the edge of a cliff by the Cordillera Peoples Alliance, the memorial bears the silhouette portraits of Macli-ing Dulag, Pedro Dungoc and Lumbaya Gayudan, the tribal leaders who opposed the multimillion-peso hydroelectric project that would have submerged and displaced communities in Kalinga and Mountain Province. In January, the steel panels of the images were removed, three months after the Kalinga police advisory council ordered the monument’s demolition.
April 24, 2019
President Duterte signed an executive order implementing the normalization track of the 2014 Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB). The signing of EO 79 marks the full implementation of the components under the normalization annex, including the phased decommissioning of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) forces, whose main goal is to help combatants and their families become productive members of society. The 40,000-strong MILF is set to be decommissioned until 2022. Other aspects of the normalization include education, livelihood training and assistance, social interventions and camp transformation.
Canceled events:
Due to the national public health emergency in relation to the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19), the Garlic Festival in Pinili, Ilocos Norte; the Ana Kalang Festival in Nagcarlan, Laguna; and the Kaamulan Festival in Bukidnon province, scheduled between April 18 and 24, have been canceled by the local governments concerned.
