Conrado Balweg (December 29, 1942 – December 31, 1999) was a former Filipino

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

priest and rebel who was the founder of the Cordillera People's Liberation Army, a militant group which advocated

autonomy In developmental psychology and moral, political, and bioethical philosophy, autonomy is the capacity to make an informed, uncoerced decision. Autonomous organizations or institutions are independent or self-governing. Autonomy can also be ...

for the Cordillera region in the

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. He was also known by the '' nom-de-guerre'' Ka Ambo.

Career

Balweg, a member of the Itneg or Tinguian people's of Abra, was ordained a priest of the Society of the Divine Word congregation by Pope Paul VI in 1970 during the latter's pastoral visit to

Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...

. He joined the

New People's Army The New People's Army (; abbreviated NPA or BHB) is the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP). It acts as the CPP's principal organization, aiming to consolidate political power from what it sees as the present "bourgeo ...

in 1979 in light of abuses against the Itneg people by the Marcos administration, which wanted to promote the interests of the Cellophil Resources Corporation.Bagadion, Benjamin Jr. (1991 Januar-December). THE RISE AND FALL OF A CRONY CORPORATION. Philippine Sociological Review. Vol. 39, No. 1/4. Philippine Sociological Society. pp. 24-29. https://www.jstor.org/stable/ He was also inspired by the heroism of tribal leader Macli-ing Dulag who was killed at around that time. Dulag had opposed the Chico River Dam Project, a plan of the government to build a

hydroelectric dam Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is Electricity generation, electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies 15% of the world's electricity, almost 4,210 TWh in 2023, which is more than all other Renewable energ ...

in the Cordilleras. By the early 1980s, the

Armed Forces of the Philippines The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) () are the military forces of the Philippines. It consists of three main service branches; the Philippine Army, Army, the Philippine Air Force, Air Force, and the Philippine Navy, Navy (including the P ...

had tagged Balweg as its most-wanted man with a bounty of . As an NPA member, he was part of the Lumbaya Company. Balweg formed the Cordillera People’s Liberation Army (CPLA) in 1986 with fellow priest, Bruno Ortega. Under his leadership, the CPLA made a ''sipat'' or

ceasefire A ceasefire (also known as a truce), also spelled cease-fire (the antonym of 'open fire'), is a stoppage of a war in which each side agrees with the other to suspend aggressive actions often due to mediation by a third party. Ceasefires may b ...

with the

Philippine government The government of the Philippines () has three interdependent branches: the legislative, executive, and judicial branches. The Philippines is governed as a unitary state under a presidential representative and democratic constitutional repub ...

at the Mt. Data Hotel, in Bauko,

Mountain Province Mountain Province (; ; ; ; ; ) is a landlocked province of the Philippines in the Cordillera Administrative Region in Luzon. Its capital is Bontoc while Bauko is the largest municipality. Mountain Province was formerly referred to as Mountain ...

on September 13, 1986. The agreement between the two sides was called the 1986 Mount Data Peace Accord.

Death

Members of the Chadli Molintas Cordillera Region Command of the

killed Balweg at his residence in Malibcong, Abra in the early morning of December 31, 1999. The unit was led by his brother Juvencio, who denied firing the shots that fatally wounded Balweg. The New People's Army issued a statement that they killed Balweg for alleged "crimes against the Cordilleran people and the Revolutionary Movement". Another NPA member, Procorpio Tauro also known as "Pyro" and "Ka Lito", was found by the Philippine police to be directly responsible for killing Balweg. Tauro, along with Balweg's brother and other NPA members were present when the killing occurred.

Personal life

Balweg was married to Corazon Cortel. Upon Balweg's death in 1999, Cortel became the Chief of Staff of the CPLA. Cortel died at Camp Upi in Gamu, Isabela on March 10, 2008, leaving behind five children. Jordan, one of Balweg's children, was a CPLA member who was integrated into the

Philippine Army The Philippine Army (PA) () is the main, oldest and largest branch of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), responsible for ground warfare. , it had an estimated strength of 143,100 soldiers The service branch was established on December ...

in 2012.

In popular culture

Balweg's turn from a priest to a communist rebel was depicted in the 1987 film '' Balweg'', directed by Anthony "Butch" Perez and starring Phillip Salvador as Balweg and Rio Locsin as his wife Azon.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Balweg, Conrado 1942 births 1999 deaths 20th-century Filipino Roman Catholic priests Assassinated Filipino people Filipino communists Northern Luzon during martial law under Ferdinand Marcos People from Abra (province) 1999 murders in the Philippines