CDC President Benigno N. Ricafort said the state-owned corporation is planning to forge partnerships with government agencies like the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), and the Bureau of Food and Drugs for the implementation of livelihood programs for Aetas in the Next Frontier area which is located in Clark’s Sacobia Valley.

Ricafort said the Next Frontier project is in consonance with the Joint Management Agreement (JMA) signed in December 6, 2007 by CDC, National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP), and leaders of the Tribung Ayta, who have inherent rights over certain areas of the Sacobia Valley under the Ancestral Domain Claims.

“CDC will be pursuing programs and projects that are geared toward capacity-building, entrepreneurship, and cooperativism. These endeavors are aimed at building self-sufficiency among members of Tribung Ayta,” Ricafort said.

Ricafort said: “Foremost in the implementation of livelihood programs will be CDC’s assistance in packaging and marketing of various existing products that Aetas are known for like cultural crafts and root crops.”

The CDC president also said the state-run corporation will ask the assistance of BFAD for the processing of the Aeta farm produce or plants into food, soaps, and other similar products.

“We are making it a point that our activities and projects for the Next Frontier will nurture Aetas into entrepreneurship, and the building of cooperatives to make them self-sufficient, Ricafort said.”

Ricafort also said the CDC also aims to establish common service facilities for Aetas in their respective residential clusters that will be built in the Sacobia Valley.

“These facilities will serve as venues for training, orientation, and even as showcase for their various products,” Ricafort said.

Earlier, Ricafort announced that the CDC is optimistic on the speedy completion of the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of the JMA.

Ricafort cited the JMA as the prime ingredient of the Next Frontier project that aims to develop more than 2,000 hectares of forested area in the Sacobia Valley – the northern portion of this Freeport.

“The most important role of the JMA is that it ensures the recognition and promotion of the overall welfare of the Aeta tribes in the area aside from enabling the CDC to generate investment potentials in tourism, housing, commercial, institutional and light industry projects in the Sacobia Valley through the Next Frontier project,” Ricafort said.

Also, Ricafort reported that the CDC has trained 21 Aetas, 18 of which have been selected as tour guides after an extensive training spearheaded by the state-run corporation, in cooperation with the Department of Tourism (DOT) Region III office last June 15 to 19, 2009.

The Aeta tour guides are now employed at the Clark Museum, Ricafort said, adding that during their training they were brought to various national museums “to benchmark and observe” the work of curators and guides.

Ricafort added that more than 100 Aetas and residents of the Sacobia Valley here have applied for security force for the Next Frontier.

Dubbed “Special Citizens Armed Forces Geographical Unit Active Auxiliary” (SCAA), the project is a recruitment of Ayta Security Detail for the Next Frontier that seeks more ways to provide livelihood programs for indigenous people in the area.

The state-run Clark Development Corp. had been planning to establish the much-vaunted “Next Frontier” in the Sacobia Valley and the reports that the 600th ABW will be transferred to the deeply contested area was misleading. 600th ABW Commander Col. Francisco Cruz could only scratch his head in disbelief as the PAF chief summoned him to explain.

I came across Col. Cruz during the simple cocktail party at the Mimosa Resorts recently accorded to him and former 600th ABW Commander Col. Alejandro Camagay. Cruz said the scribe got it all wrong because they are considering Basa Air Base in Floridablanca town or Crow Valley in Tarlac and not in the CDC’s “Next Frontier.”

“I’m hoping that this is not a send-off party,” Cruz told Clark International Airport Corp. president and CEO Victor Jose I. Luciano, EVP/COO Alexander S. Cauguiran, CDC president and CEO Benny Ricafort and CIAC officials. “I hope that we can nurture the partnership that we have forged,” said Camagay. “This is going to be a partnership. Our partnership is very much stronger in Clark.”

For his part, Luciano said CIAC and PAF have “an imaginary boundary and we are going in one direction.”

More Clark entitlements

The Philippine Air Panel who went to Finland for rounds of air talk scored another monumental success for the overall development of the Clark airport as the Philippines’ future premier gateway. Both Philippine and Finland air panels reviewed the existing Air Services Agreement (ASA), the bilateral framework that identifies frequency, capacity, route, type of aircraft and volume of cargo that can be conducted in pair-countries—and made some adjustments.

During the talks held in Helsinki last September 29 to 30, 2008, the RP Air Panel headed by Transportation and Communications Undersecretary Doroteo Reyes Jr. was able to secure new entitlements for the Philippines particularly the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport.

For the route Clark-Points in Finland, seven weekly frequencies had been allotted and vice-versa for a total of 14 flights per week. For the route Manila-Finland (Helsinki), four weekly frequencies had been allotted and vice-versa for a total of eight flights per week; and to the route between Points in the Philippines except Manila and Clark-Points in Finland, seven weekly frequencies had been allotted and vice-versa for a total of 14 flights per week. For cargo, 700 tons weekly capacity had been allotted for the route Clark/Subic-Finland V.V. and vice versa. Well, we need these entitlements for Clark—the more the better.