When Valerio returned to Abra to become an assistant parish priest for the municipalities of Lacub, Licuan and Tineg, Cellophil had become firmly established in the Cordillera region, allegedly being reinforced by President Ferdinand Marcos’s own Presidential Security Command (PSG). Government officials, military troopers and even some complicit church officials took turns between persuasion and coercion to convince the locals to sell their lands at a measly rate. They offered jobs in exchange for the concession area, and offered residents compensation if they could show proof of ownership, a legal custom the Tingguians and Kalingas did not practice. When they continued resistance, Cellophil and the soldiers became more aggressive.[11] Families were forcibly ejected from their own homes, bulldozers plowed their fields, and leaders were tortured. All this, while their trees were being cut, rivers widened and lands taken. The farmers lost their livelihood, and the people lost their fishing and food source.[12]

During his off-days, he led a collective within his parish to do what he once did. They lived with the locals in far-flung barrios to learn more about their current social, political and economic issues. This group included Erlinda “Daisy” Timbreza, a former convent sister with whom Nilo closely worked and eventually developed a romantic relationship. They also became very close with the locals, who treated them as if one of their own. While they did tasks for the parish, Valerio’s group also worked throughout the province doing organizing work. In turn, the village elders began turning to the priests aligned with their cause more often.[13]

However, of the some thirty priests stationed in Abra, only four were vocal in their opposition to Cellophil’s project. Bruno Ortega, who was stationed in Malicbong, Cirilo Ortega in Luba and Tubo, and Conrado Balweg in Sallapadan joined Valerio in helping the Tingguians organize mass action.[14] This culminated in the bodong of 1978, held in Tiempo, which united peace pact holders and leaders from Abra, Mountain Province and Kalinga to lay down their pact of non-acquiescence with the demands of the government, non-violent forms of resistance and to continue doing so until the government withdraws their projects from Cordillera.[15] Though Valerio sympathized with the people, he urged them to focus on non-violent and legal means of defending themselves against Cellophil’s encroachment.[16]

 The cooperation of the priests with the locals, however, placed them in the sights of local military forces, who consequently labeled them subversives. As Cellophil intensified its work in the region, the military also began focusing on the four, perceived to be the leaders of the entire anti-Cellophil movement. Fearing for his life, the troubled Valerio’s confreres and friends convinced him to return to Manila, as his activities had been increasingly monitored by unwanted elements. Upon briefly reuniting with his family in late 1979, Valerio was faced with a difficult choice. He had greatly enjoyed his time as a man of the cloth, but he knew that his efforts to improve the lives of Tingguians were falling short in his current capacity.[17]

He had tried to negotiate and petition with Cellophil officials, but this yielded nothing. On the contrary, government troops had begun actively antagonizing the people opposed to the project. Tribal leaders were arrested and questioned for their motives. Rivers were silted and widened for transport of vehicles and materials. Valuable trees and crops were bulldozed and chunks of lands were closed off for access. Valerio knew he could no longer return as a priest, and, having exhausted all legal means to help the Tingguians, he would not make a difference if he did so. Nonetheless, Valerio adamantly wanted to return to Abra. He and Timbreza did so by mid-1980, this time to be part of the underground guerrilla movement.[18]

They joined some twenty guerrilla fighters of the New People’s Army (NPA), most of whom were Tingguians and Valerio came to be known as Ka Romy. Life proved difficult away from the comforts of his parish, as it often rained, food was scarce and military checkpoints and blockades forced them to traverse dangerous mountain roads. Valerio encouraged the people to organize, take up arms and wage war against the repressive enemy. Cellophil attacked by recruiting the youth to work for them and by bribing the people with money and employment, but the people retaliated by burning plantations, pushing trucks and tractors over cliffs, and stealing equipment, among other tactics. The progress of Cellophil was successfully crippled with the emergence of the NPA and people’s resistance in Abra.[19]

Valerio proved to be a capable leader for the revolutionary movement, skillful in organizing and planning for operations. He kept a low profile and relegated himself in the background when possible. Though he focused on organizational and educational work, he also fought when needed. As the locals grew fond of Valerio and his group, they also came to accept the NPA’s presence in their barrios, with some of them joining the movement themselves.[20]

Valerio was likewise committed to Timbreza. With the blessing of a comrade, who was also a priest, the two were married in April of 1980 in the hills above Bugnay in Kalinga, the hometown of local hero Macli-ing Dulag. The ceremony was attended by their colleagues from across the province as well as elders from five communities of the Butbut tribe.[21] The two vowed to become “revolutionary husband and wife” and to build a family within the framework of the movement. As part of this vow, they gave each other new names: Rommel and Dahlia.[22] By the next month, Timbreza was pregnant with their first child. After much contemplation, the couple committed to continuing their work as part of the Armed Propaganda Unit while caring for their baby.[23]

Valerio’s group continued working with the Tingguians to find solutions to their current problems. The natives did not have advanced tools for more efficient farming and the remoteness of their barrios impeded their capabilities to sell crops. Due to food scarcity and lack of resources, many are forced to move to the cities and accept jobs with exploitative employers. Epidemics are also common due to their situation.[24] To assist the disconcerted locals, Valerio’s group taught them how to plant bananas, petitioned for a soil technician to help them determine the best type of crops, and encouraged them to form a cooperative to buy and sell crops at wholesale prices. They were also introduced to acupuncture as an alternative cure for body pains and illnesses.[25]

Valerio and his comrades continued trying to help as much as they could, but they also began worrying for their own mobility and safety. By the early 1980’s, the government intensified its militarization of the province, and soon they found barrios constantly being patrolled by Constabulary troopers. Unable to seek refuge, Valerio’s group often found themselves spending the night in the treacherous mountainside and forested areas nearby. They often ran out of food, which they had always prioritized giving to the pregnant Timbreza.[26]

As months went by and Timbreza got closer to her due date, it became more difficult for the company, which had been growing bigger due to new recruits, to include her in their undertakings. It was decided that she temporarily join another group in Baguio City to handle clerical work until she could deliver the baby. She gave birth to her firstborn, Albert, in January of 1981.[27] Valerio briefly left work to tend to his wife and newborn child while comrades in the city helped Timbreza. After three months, Timbreza left Albert under the care of her mother to rejoin the movement.[28]

Timbreza was reassigned to the guerrilla zone with Valerio. Her time with him and the group, however, came to an abrupt halt when she found herself pregnant once again later that year. By this time, membership of the NPA had tripled and there were concrete mobilizations taking place in the barrio and municipal levels. They had gone far too deep to pull out and bear the burden of helping Timbreza through her pregnancy again. With this, Timbreza bade Valerio goodbye and returned to Baguio City, where she settled with her mother and child while hosting the movement for its newsletter publications.[29]

In March of 1982, Timbreza gave birth to her second child, Gerson. The mother and child faced great difficulty as arrests and raids of comrades forced them to constantly move from house to house. To move her to safety, Valerio again left his work briefly to formally introduce his wife and children to his family in Manila. Under strict military checkpoints, Valerio went against the advice of his comrades and disguised himself as an old woman to evade detection.[30] Though the family was taken aback to find Valerio married and with kids, they quickly came to accept the new members of the family and readily welcomed them to their home. For the next couple of years, Timbreza stayed with Valerio’s family and was able to become an ordinary mother for their two children.[31]

During the passing years, however, Timbreza increasingly felt that she could not abandon the cause for which she and her husband had fought for years. Valerio discussed it with her and his family, and the two decided to rejoin the Education Propaganda Committee of the NPA.[32] Timbreza returned to assisting in writing, translation and reproduction of materials for the movement. After resuming work, Valerio was transferred to Ilocos Sur, then later in Benguet for his organizing work.[33] After one consultative meeting with higher ups in the city in August 1984, the increasing military presence on the return route rendered Valerio briefly unable to go back. This allowed him to stay with his family, living with his mother-in-law, his wife and his two children, for a few months.[34]

To make a living for his family, Valerio made Christmas cards to sell to friends and relatives. They were able to save enough to buy their two children their own bicycles as Christmas gifts. They managed to live life normally during these otherwise tumultuous times for the movement. They were able to enjoy outings in places such as Wild Life Park and the Gubat sa Syudad Resort. The immeasurable happiness the couple felt during their time as a complete family convinced them to remain as such. Valerio decided that he would return to work in the provinces for one more year before asking for a transfer of responsibility so he could work in the city with his wife. The two also began planning to start a small business to support their children.[35]

One morning in January of 1985, Albert awoke to find his father packing his things and immediately asked him if he was leaving. Valerio promised his children that he would be back soon. Pained by being separated once again, Timbreza followed Valerio out of the house as he was escorted by a comrade to the bus station. She watched her husband’s figure grow smaller and eventually fade into the horizon. This was the last time the family would see Nilo Valerio.[36]

Timbreza kept contact with Valerio through letters, and these informed her of worsening military activities in Benguet. Due to their constant presence, their group often had to travel at night, making it extremely dangerous for the bespectacled Valerio, who had poor eyesight. Letters came less often, but Valerio had assured his wife of his safety and cautioned her not to believe reports in the newspapers of NPA encounters and casualties without confirmation.[37]

This was what Timbreza grappled with when, on September 5, 1985, one of her sisters-in-law came bearing a newspaper, which reported that an encounter between the military and NPA on August 24 in Sitio Beyeng in Bakun, Benguet resulted in the deaths of three rebels, one of whom was suspected to be the Abra priest-turned revolutionary Nilo Valerio.[38] The news originated from a “concerned Igorot” who then wrote a letter to the Cordillera News Agency and Bulletin Today correspondent Isidro Chammag.[39]

The letter was in response to an earlier declassified report run by some national dailies, from Regional Unified Commander I Brig. Gen. Tomas Dumpit, who told of an encounter wherein three rebels were killed, identifying them as Ka Bobot, Ka Senyang and Ka Gina.[40] The letter added that while it was usual for guerrillas to die in their struggle, the witnesses found it difficult to accept that the bodies were beheaded. One of the victims’ heads was allegedly used for target practice because it was “ugly.” It also identified Ka Senyang as one “Cristeta Fernandez,” and Ka Bobot as none other than Fr. Nilo Valerio.[41]

Shortly after, the Ecumenical Movement for Justice and Peace (EMJP) and the Promotion of Church People’s Rights (PCPR) condemned the beheading and desecration of the dead as the “most brutal form of violation of human and civil rights.” Even AFP Chief-of-Staff Fidel Ramos denounced the incident as barbaric and called for an impartial investigation. A fact-finding mission team was organized to verify and retrieve the bodies for a proper burial. Family members of Fernandez and Valerio joined the team, which was sponsored by the Northern Luzon Human Rights Organization (NLHRO) and the Cordillera Consultative Committee (CCC), human rights organizations based in Baguio City. The mission, composed of 26 members of the media, church and human rights organizations, and the victims’ relatives went to Bakun to investigate for themselves. Fernandez’s family was represented by her brother Jose “Ding” Fernandez, and Valerio’s family was represented by his brother Epigenio “Jun” Valerio, Jr.[42]

Upon arriving in Benguet on September 8, the fact-finding team immediately ran into obstacles. In Camp Dangwa, they sought an audience with military officers to ask for their assistance in recovering the bodies, but they merely were given the runaround. A regional commander general of Benguet also tried to dissuade them due to the dangerous trail they have to go through to reach the incident site. They turned to the provincial health office to ask for a permit, but were told they had to refer to the Ministry of Health instead, a deviation from normal procedure. They again ran into problems with the Ministry of Health, as it requested an NBI and police clearance.[43] Undeterred, the team decided to push through without a permit and finally found recourse through Benguet Governor Ben Palispis, who offered to pay for their food and send a representative to assist them in their investigation.[44]

The group interviewed the native Kankanaeys of Sitio Beyeng to obtain eyewitness testimonies. The elders attested that the NPA rebels arrived long ago, teaching them techniques in farming and acupuncture. Nilo Valerio, along with seven others, stayed in the sitio for the night because one of their companions had fallen ill. The group confirmed that one of the victims was indeed Nilo Valerio when residents singled out Jun Valerio among them and noted that he closely resembled Ka Bobot. He was described as bespectacled, tall and slender, and bearing a rifle.[45]