'Justice on Wheels' program benefits Aetas

IBA, Zambales – About 300 Aeta tribesmen, most of them dislocated by the Mt. Pinatubo eruption in 1991, recently learned how to assert their rights to the land they are now reclaiming for the sake of their next generations.

This, after Chief Justice Reynato Puno recently brought the Enhanced Justice on Wheels (EJOW) program to this province.

“This is a crucial undertaking which is very important to the welfare of the Aetas of Zambales, who have long been victimized because of their lack of education,” said Zambales Gov. Amor Deloso.

“Now that the Aetas are equipped with even a basic knowledge of the law, they could somehow resist and fight the abuses,” he said.

The EJOW program consisted of a series of lectures held at the Hall of Justice in this capital town, including an overview of the Indigenous People’s Rights Act that gave indigenous groups like the Aetas their right to claim ancestral domain, as well as on agrarian and environmental laws.

Most of the participants came from the Lubos na Alyansa ng mga Katutubong Aeta ng Zambales based in Barangay Villar, Botolan town, and from other villages such as Mambog and Masikap.

After the lectures, Puno and Deloso handed out certificates of attendance to the Aeta participants, assisted by Justice Consuelo Ynares-Santiago, who chairs the EJOW program.

Also conducted were mobile court hearings, which paved the way for the provisional release of 13 inmates.