Aetas open ancestral domain to investors

CLARK FREEPORT, Pam­panga – Amid ceremonial dances that mimicked animals, tribal Aetas further firmed up their commitment to open 10,648 hectares of their ancestral lands to investors here, as they received yesterday from the Clark Development Corp. 13 brand new vehicles worth some P8.1 million as advance payment for their share in their joint management deal with the CDC.

Diminutive Aeta farmer Lupito David, 54, assumed the posture of a frog and leaped amid the dancing of five Aeta women in a thanksgiving ritual they called “Dururus” during ceremonies turning over to 13 of their tribal leaders a Mitsubishi Adventure sports utility vehicle and 12 L-300 Mitsubishi vans which they later drove home to their villages in Mabalacat, Pampanga and Bamban, Tarlac.

“This is part of the joint management agreement (JMA) that the Bamban Aeta Tribal Association (BATA) signed with the CDC to open our ancestral lands to investors,” BATA president Oscar Rivera told The Star.

“The SUV will be for my use as BATA president while the others will be for the use of the 12 tribal leaders,” he said.

With some 4,500 hectares of this freeport fast filling up with investors, the JMA, which is effective for 75 years, was signed on Aug. 24 last year. It was approved by the National Commission for Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) on Dec. 6. Under the agreement, the Aetas, represented by the BATA, would get 20 percent of the income that could be earned by the CDC from investors in their ancestral lands.

Rivera said that while only a mango orchard and an orchid farm are the only investors so far in their lands, they expected more investors to come in now that the JMA is already in full force.

“There are some Aetas who criticize the sharing scheme, but I told them it would be better for us to take the 20 percent share of income without the burden of maintaining areas for investors, rather than having an 80 percent share and be responsible for all the infrastructure and other needs in the area,” Rivera said.

In his speech during the turn over of vehicles, CDC president and chief executive officer Liberato Laus said “these vehicles would mean faster ways of getting their products to the marketplace and getting higher returns from them. Beyond that, we may all be surprised by how far these convenient tools can dramatically expand the whole horizon for our Aeta brothers.”

Rivera said that BATA leaders asked the CDC to advance the vehicles to them as part of their 20 percent share because of some urgent needs of Aeta folk. “We really need them not only to transport our produce to the market, but also for those who need to be immediately hospitalized.”