The struggle to own ancestral domain is over as the gov’t provides Aetas homeland security

It was a dream come true for cultural minorities known as Aetas of Zambales and Pampanga as they have finally found homeland security, protection and legitimate ownership of their ancestral land.

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, together with the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) officials, awarded certificates of ancestral domain title (CADT) benefiting 454 Aeta families.

The title covers 7,440.10 hectares in San Marcelino and Brgy. Batiawan, Subic in Zambales and barangays Mawakat and Nabuklod in Floridablanca, Pampanga.

“We feel more secure that we finally have the CADT,” said Carlito Dumulot, chairperson of the Bukluran ng mga Katutubo sa Luzon (BUKAL).

Dumulot added that they faced a lot of difficulties fighting for their land. “People still want to claim our land even if we are already here, are entitled, and making good use of it,” he said.

“This is a historic day, ” says Rolando Rivera, commissioner for Luzon of the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples.

“It’s a shield against land grabbers,” Bonifacio Florentino, chieftain of the Aetas in Pastolan in Hermosa, Bataan, said.

The challenge is no longer to obtain their land but how to make full use of it.

“We still demand delivery of support services from the government in order to fully develop our ancestral lands,” Dumulot said.

Aetas are pleased to finally receive the title. “We are very thankful because we have waited so long for this. We are thankful because finally, they gave importance to our title,” said Parham Santos, an elderly Aeta from Floridablanca.

Santos said the importance of CADT for the IPs cannot be underestimated. “CADT guarantees protection of our rights to our ancestral domain as mandated by the IP Rights Act,” Dumulot added.

Santos added that they do the best they can for their lands: making it fertile, planting crops, treating produce with organic fertilizer. She said they also need water systems, and education for proper farming to make full use of their lands.

“This is the first time clean ancestral domain titles were distributed by the NCIP,” said director Salong Sunggod, NCIP Region 3 director.

Sunggod added that all nuisances from the titles have been removed. “Other claims to the ancestral domain have been settled already,” he said.

Sunggod also said that the 1,423 Aetas who will receive the titles would not face counter-claims after these have been issued to them.

The President had directed the NCIP to undertake the delineation and titling of the ancestral domain nationwide and the provision of socio-economic programs to uplift the living standards of the indigenous peoples in the country, including the Aetas who were displaced by the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo in 1991.

As a result of the volcanic eruption, the Aetas in Pampanga, Tarlac and Zambales were forced to abandon their ancestral lands, while others resorted to begging to survive.

President also lauded the Clark Development Corporation’s (CDC) Next Frontier project citing positive effects like employment generation and contribution to the national and local economy.

Arroyo cited CDC President Benigno N. Ricafort saying the development of the Sacobia Valley will provide much needed jobs for Aetas living within the area.

She also awarded ancestral domain titles to Dumagat tribes from the Aurora province.

The President stressed that with the distribution of the CADT to indigenous peoples like Aetas and Dumagats, they are now landlords who will benefit from the income generated by the development of their ancestral lands.

Today, Aeta tribes in the Sacobia Valley now own approximately 10,323 hectares of land.

Ricafort said the CDC is bullish on pursuing the development of The Next Frontier – a program that aims to build industrial, educational, commercial, and tourism related project in the Sacobia Valley .

He said The Next Frontier project is in consonance with the Joint Management Agreement (JMA) – a contract signed on December 6, 2007 by CDC, the NCIP and leaders of Aeta tribes who have inherent rights over certain areas of the Sacobia Valley under the Ancestral Domain Claims.

Ricafort added that while the JMA and the Next Frontier enable CDC to generate investment potentials in tourism, housing, commercial, institutional and light industry projects in the Sacobia Valley , the undertaking also ensures the recognition and promotion of the overall welfare of the Aeta tribes in the area.

“The Aetas will get 20 percent of the income generated by the industries that will rise in The Next Frontier,” Ricafort said.

Aeta chieftains who were with the President in Sitio Monicayo expressed their gratitude to Ms. Arroyo saying most of them had waited for a lifetime and are now happy and thankful that their prayers had been answered.