It's a bad sign when an altercation between the mayor and the parish priest ends in gunfire. That's just what happened in the northern Luzon township of San Mariano-a sign of how deeply a fight against illegal logging divides the Philippine community. Mayor Jesus Miranda ordered the dismantling of a roadside checkpoint which the priest had set up to intercept contraband timber. And when Father John Couvreur had the gall to ignore his directive, the mayor opened fire.