Most of the 66th Inf. Reg. soldiers were from Benguet Province of the Ibaloi tribe. They were just a small part of a larger group of Igorot soldiers who fought in WW2. For clarification, yes, they were armed with modern rifles and equipment not spears and axes.
During the Philippine-American War, some Igorot tribes sided with the Americans after suffering maltreatment by their fellow Filipinos. However, the Cordilleras became a refuge for Gen. Aguinaldo as he escaped the pursuing Americans. In WW2, the USAFIP-NL 66th Infantry Regiment, Philippine Commonwealth Army, consisting of mostly Igorot soldiers, helped fight Gen. Yamashita's dreaded Imperial Japanese 14th Army Division -eventually leading to Yamashita's surrender in Kiangan, Ifugao.
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