"WE KEEP MEMORIES" (2)

     It was their way of saying the Iluko literary world should be without fence. It was a friendship gesture. They even distributed copies of the journal. It has nothing to do with "honesty and integrity".

     Did you ban us from writing in the Iluko weekly ? The first to be banned was Julio Belmes, the architect of the writers' house when he wrote something about the patta, now the symbol of the failed dreams of Ilokano writers. Belmes, now an OFW in Papua, New Guinea, is a no-nonsense writer from Abra.  
     What happened to your letter, Prescy, to Judge Vivencio Baclig, GF president, regarding the "dugol" of the Ilokano writing group?
     There was this donation of a then successful medical practitioner in the US West Coast, from Bangui, Ilocos Norte. Some $600 was in the hands of the president of the gunglo. Eliseo Contilio sent a message informing the blogger that Dr. Pete Alupay sent $1000. Elinor, the wife of Pete, said it was more than that amount. We were in their sprawling house in West Riverside, California at that time as Pete sent tickets for us to spend part of the Christmas season there. We were then in Amarilio, Texas, staying with the family of our son Anib-Israel. Vhen Bautista, the Ilokano singer, who was working at Pete's clinic, met us in his car at the Orlando airport.

     Pete was a medical surgeon of the NPA, yes, the New People's Army operating in Northern Luzon. Eleanor his wife--she is an Arda, a relative of the golfer Ben Arda- and Pete himself, confirmed the exact amount of dollars he gave to the gunglo.