With the decline of such established feuding centers as Corsica, Sicily and Harlan County, Ky., the killingest people on earth today may well be the citizens of Ilocos Sur province (pop. 275,000) in northern Luzon. There, long before dusk, nervous wives set out the evening meal and draw the shutters, for, as the local saying goes, when the sun sets, blood begins to flow. Last year 87 murders were recorded in the province, and no one knew how many others went unreported by Ilocanos who did not want to get involved as witnesses. In Ilocos Sur's capital of Vigan (pop. 24,000), where 70 have been murdered in the past two years, there are 214 back murder cases on the docket, some dating to 1951.
Ilocanos seem to need little excuse to kill. A month ago two men burst into the home of Florentino Lazo at Manzante village, blasted Lazo and his son José with carbines as they sat at dinner. Florentino had been suspected by his killers of recently doing away with Mariano and Isabelo Tayaba—who, in turn, were thought to have killed Lauriano and Pablo Sadabo. Besides, young José was scheduled to testify soon at still another murder trial. Police had all the motives they could want, and jailed two suspects.
In Puro Pinget, a stone's throw away, a dozen murders have taken place in the past year over a faction fight that has split the northern and southern sections of the village into warring groups. Puro Pinget's new village boss, elected fortnight ago by unanimous vote, is 37-year-old David Torda, currently out on bail on a charge of killing a 72-year-old neighbor in June.
Much of the bloodshed in the province can really be traced to the political quarrels of two old rivals for the Ilocos congressional seat in Manila. One is the Liberal Party's Floro Crisologo, who served three terms, then lost to his enemy, Nacionalista Congressman Faustino Tobia. "Sure, I give my boys guns," admits Tobia (whose uncle is wanted for murder). "They need them to protect themselves, don't they?" Crisologo is equally frank: "I don't deny it. We kill Tobia's men. But we kill only one to every four or five of our own killed by his goons. We should get medals."
So far this year, Ilocos Sur's murder roster totals 61, but the season is barely under way: in Ilocos Sur, as in the rest of the Philippines, elections will be held in November to choose new mayors, a new provincial governor and eight new Senators to send to Manila, and this always makes for unrest. As frightened priests (who celebrate separate Masses in Ilocos, one for each faction) called for peace and quiet, the Philippine government dispatched a battalion of 1,100 troops to the troubled province, and three more judges were rushed up to Vigan to help handle the overcrowded dockets. Sighed Defense Secretary Alejo Santos, making an on-the-scene inspection: "These people have created a new industry for themselves: killing. They are producing widows and orphans."