*Note this story is in Kapampangan
Case # KGMJ4852
Ating mengabating a anak anyang July 17, 1961, ala una na ning ugtu. Miglawe la reng Rangers king Orang National Park oneng pilang oras na ing milabas bayu da abalu nung nanu ing milyari karela.
Dapat normal a field trip yamu naman ita. Pipilang gradeschool titser ampong estudyante a papuntang park para gawang paper tungkul king park. Atin lang abeng atlung bante detang anak.
Itang mumunang bangke, metung ya karetang titser. Balamu mete ya king sakal. E pa balu nung nanu ing kemate na oneng ating pruebang mete ya dail king “violent compression on the neck as well as presence of bruising.” Balamu pilan mung minutu ing kemate na oneng ala naman meg-aliwa king itsura na o king katawan.
Detang mitagan, ikit dala ketang metung tanaman. Ketang “rainbow eucalyptus grove”. Balang metung, atin lang pasa kalupa na nitang minunang bangke a atin pasa a balamu sekal. Atin din buak-buak a ikit da king batal da. Linto naman king post-mortem, atin lang balamu pile o “fracture” detang anak. Sabi king Autopsy, pilang minute mu, mete la agad deng biktima.
Suma total, disisyete la deng mete. Siyam anak a lalaki, limang anak a babai, ampong atlung babaing titser.
Ni-lock-down de ing park saka dala ininspeksyun deng egana-ganang kotse a lulwal oneng ala lang ikit na magpatune na atin ginamit ”murder weapon”. Alang migtugma a buak kareng bangke saka kareng “visitors” a linub king park.
Angga ngeni, ali ya pa din “solved” in kasu.
=—————————————–=
English Version
Case # KGMJ4852
The children went missing July 17, 1961 at about 1pm. Rangers searched the Orang National Park for hours before they discovered what had happened to them.
It was supposed to be a routine field trip, a bunch of grade schoolers and their teachers going through a park and making papers about it after. The children were lead by 3 chaperons.
The first body was of one of the teachers, she looked like she had died from strangulation. The cause was unknown, but there was evidence of violent compression on the neck as well as presence of bruising. It seemed that death was within minutes with no disfiguring physical findings. Strands of soft hair were found on the victims neck, mirroring later findings.
The rest of the victims were found all in the same place, a rainbow eucalyptus grove. Each victim had the same marks as the first body and all showing signs of strangulation, with the presence of the hair on their necks. The child victims show fractures and bruising that were found to be postmortem. Autopsy showed the times of death of all the victims were within minutes of each other.
In total there were 17 victims. 9 boys, 5 girls and 3 female teachers.
The park was put on lockdown and all exiting vehicles were searched but nothing was ever found that would match the presumed murder weapon. No hairs that matched the ones found were present on any of the other park visitors.
The case remains unsolved to this day.
————————–
* Kapampangan, Pampango, or the Pampangan language is a major Philippine language. It is primarily spoken in the province of Pampanga, southern Tarlac, and northeastern Bataan. Kapampangan is also spoken in some municipalities of Bulacan and Nueva Ecija, by various Aeta groups of Central Luzon, and in scattered communities within the SOCCSKSARGEN region in Mindanao. The language is known honorifically as Amánung Sísuan (“breastfed, or nurtured, language”)
Written by Karl Gaverza
Copyright © Karl Gaverza
Translation Copyright © Keith Nicson Fajardo
Story inspired by Ikugan entry in Creatures of Philippine Lower Mythology. Ramos. 1971.
Ikugan Illustration by Leandro Geniston from Aklat ng mga Anito
FB: That Guy With A Pen