Five residents if this town were injured after the van they were riding fell off a cliff in Pegeo, Antadao, in the eastern part of Sagada.

The accident happened at around five in the morning Tuesday. The van came from nearby town Bontoc.

The injured passengers were admitted at St. Theodore’s Hospital, the only hospital in town. They were subsequently discharged.

From Interaksyon and local sources

Elders and residents of Sagada are gathering on Facebook and in the ili to question the holding of the bonfire festival in Tangeb. Said activity did not secure a free and prior informed consent (FPIC) from the community.

Sagada is an indigenous people’s community where the IPRA law is observed.

According to sources, the bonfire, which is supposed to be held on the 28th, has secured separate permits from the mayor’s office, the municipal sanggunian and the SMS Mission, who owns the venue.

The organizers have yet to secure a barangay clearance from Dagdag or an FPIC from the central barangay cluster, which happens to compose the Sagada ili.

Several consultations have been conducted today regarding the matter. Another meeting will be made tomorrow at one in the afternoon.

Among others, the event is being questioned for playing gongs at a venue and time that disrupts the requirements set by elders for the holding of the Babayas, a traditional mass wedding celebration that is held after the rice planting season.

The Sagada Bonfire Fest is being promoted online by Travel Factor as “a yearly celebration of unique Igorot traditions and Cordillera culture.”

Based on the promotion materials, the event is co-organized by the Sagada Genuine Gudes Association, Ganduyan Bucks and the Local Government of Sagada. The event seems to be primarily a Travel Factor event.

Travel Factor is a travel agency based in Manila.

Daniel Sharman of Immortals and Teen Wolf is currently backpacking in Southeast Asia. His latest Instagram posts indicate that he was in Bontoc and riding top-load style on a jeepney bound for Sagada.

Fans in the Philippines are suddenly into Geography 101 and tweeting or asking on Instagram where Sagada is. Meanwhile, it is time to decide whether he is witch (wizard?) or werewolf.

Bussing it

Фото опубликовано Daniel Sharman (@danielsharmanofficial) Дек 12, 2014 at 2:21 PST

His photo on top of a jeepney got over forty thousand hearts (likes) within the first four hours after posting.

Sharman said goodbye (probably temporarily) to his role as Kaleb (a werewolf) in the TV show Teen Wolf to be cast as Isaac in The Originals. Isaac, the character, is a witch.

There is speculation that Sharman’s vacation includes some location shooting somewhere in Southeast Asia.

Accordingly, Sagada is a land of supernaturals. There is no confirmation if some scenes will be shot there for The Originals.

Correction: Isaac/Kaleb mixup

@nikkidiangeIo if only I could claim the error was deliberate so you would reply back. @daniel_sharman got a real fan in you fo sho #sagada

— Sagada Philippines (@sagada) December 22, 2014

Students gathered in front of the town hall today to stress the desire for peace in Sagada. A military contingent was ambushed at a Sagada roadside border at around 10:45 pm after having conducted a leadership training seminar at Sagada National High School.

Students gather in front of the Sagada Town Hall Monday after an ambush of military personnel the night before.

A soldier was killed while six others were wounded when suspected communist rebels opened fire on two vehicles ferrying them in the town of Sagada in Mountain Province Sunday night, police said.

Field reports reaching here Monday did not identify the casualties.

Senior Superintendent Oliver Enmodias said the soldiers from the Army’s 54th Infantry Battalion were on a military truck and an Isuzu Elf when attacked by suspected New People’s Army rebels. [source: Inquirer]

Unconfirmed reports state that the casualty was identified as Private First Class (PFC) Moses Tingtingga of Can-eo, Bontoc.

Someone alerted by his spouse to be missing actually went to Barlig where there is no mobile phone signal.

Nino Lopez, a tourist who came to Sagada decided to go to Barlig, Mountain Province. Since there was no means of outside communication, his wife thought that he might be missing. Lopez actually left some of his personal items in Sagada and is supposed to return after his trip to Barlig.

Residents of two villages in northern Sagada rejected the plan of the 50th Infantry Brigade of the Philippine Army to establish detachments in their communities.

The soldiers, commanded by Lieutenant Brian Arcincilla, arrived in Barangay Fidelisan on April 10 and bared their plans to set up camp at the “dap-ay,” … and at the village primary school, both located in the center of the community.

The soldiers said they were there to secure the community following a clash with the New People’s Army at Bandong Hill, which lies on the border of Sagada and Bontoc town, major parts of which are located within Pidlisan and Barangay Aguid. [source]

Previously, government troops supposedly attacked an NPA camp in the vicinity of the two villages, but ended up with two dead and two others wounded on their way back in Dalican, Bontoc.

Fidelisan residents, led by their barangay captain, Jojo Briones, told the troops to set up their detachment outside the community, reminding them that Sagada and its villages have been declared a zone of peace within which no armed military or rebel presence is allowed. [source]

The soldiers, commanded by Lieutenant Brian Arcincilla, tried to stay, but left after the issue was raised with 50th IB commander Lieutenant Colonel Richard Sibayan.

The soldiers went to Aguid and stayed at the gymnasium until Saturday.

Sibayan, in a phone interview, said he agreed to pull out his men, who had come from Abra province, when Sagada Mayor Eduardo Latawan Jr. informed him of the villagers’ opposition.

The two communities where the military planned to set camp are within a greater area eyed for geothermal energy and mining activities.

A PNP camp in Aguid, Sagada was attacked by a group believed to be belonging to the NPA.

Two policemen were killed and two of their colleagues were wounded when New People’s Army (NPA) rebels, marking their 45th anniversary, swooped down on the camp of the Regional Public Safety Battalion in Sagada, Mt. Province Saturday.

Senior Superintendent Oliver Enmodias, Mt. Province police director, withheld the identities of the slain and wounded soldiers as their relatives still have to be informed about the incident. [source]

The presence of the military batallion and the subesquent attack of the alleged NPA members can be seen as a violation of the peace zone status of Sagada.

Update

Another source mentions that it was the government troops (or police as they being called) that overran two rebel camps, but resulted in military casualties. The the clash that resulted in the deaths and wounding happened in Dalican, Bontoc and not in Aguid, Sagada.

Two rebel camps of New Peoples Army rebels were reportedly overran by policemen aided by the military Saturday, when the NPA was celebrating its founding anniversary celebration.

However, fleeing rebels and reportedly some supporters were able to fire back and killed Police Officers 1 Jefferson Sari and Marcelo Kilasen while Police Officers 1 Romeo Fakat Jr., and Benido Magan were wounded and brought to the Bontoc General Hospital for treatment.

The policemen were met with gunfire at Bandong Hill, barangay Dalican, Bontoc, Mt. Province’s capital town. [source]