01/10/2025
๐๐๐-๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ | ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐
๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐
๐๐ก๐ ๐๐ข๐ฅ๐๐ง๐ญ ๐
๐จ๐จ๐ญ๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ฉ๐ฌ ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ ๐๐๐ก๐จ๐๐ฌ ๐จ๐ ๐๐ง๐๐ข๐ ๐๐ง๐จ๐ฎ๐ฌ ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ง๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐๐ฌ
Long before the islands of the Philippines were woven into colorful and vibrant threads of different people coming from various parts of the archipelago, history with the first migrants and wanderers was etched in stone and scroll; they were the Aetas. With skin kissed by the sun, carrying earthโs rich hue that warmly glows under the beaming sun, and its head crowned with tight curls that coil like nature bending its course for them to be walking bare and free, a crown of natureโs own making.
๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ๐๐ฎ๐: ๐ง๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ถ๐ฟ๐๐ ๐๐ผ๐ผ๐๐๐๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฃ๐ต๐ถ๐น๐ถ๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ๐
The earliest inhabitants of the island crossed ravaging seas and lands thousands of years ago, raising echoes of their voices and tracing paths with their footsteps. ๐๐๐ก๐ ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐๐ง๐ข๐ก๐ฎ ๐๐จ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐๐ง๐จ๐ฉ ๐๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐ฉ๐๐ฃ๐ฉ๐จ ๐ค๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐จ๐ก๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ฌ๐๐ค ๐ข๐๐ง๐ ๐๐ ๐ฉ๐๐๐๐ง ๐๐ฃ๐๐ก๐๐ซ๐ ๐ค๐ฃ ๐จ๐ค๐ก๐๐ ๐จ๐ค๐๐ก๐จ ๐ฉ๐๐๐ฉ ๐๐ข๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ค๐ข๐, they have faced extremities in their challenges, including marginalization as time rapidly goes by. Even ๐ฌ๐๐ฉ๐ ๐ ๐ก๐๐๐๐จ๐ฉ๐ฎ๐ก๐ ๐๐จ ๐๐ช๐ฃ๐ฉ๐๐ง-๐๐๐ฉ๐๐๐ง๐๐ง๐จ ๐๐๐๐ค๐ง๐, ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ผ๐๐ฉ๐๐จ ๐๐๐ซ๐ ๐๐๐๐ค๐ข๐ ๐ฅ๐ง๐๐ฎ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐ข๐๐ง๐๐๐ฃ๐๐ก๐๐ฏ๐๐ฉ๐๐ค๐ฃ. Up until this modern day, the Aetas, who have now shifted to sustainable agriculture, remain a marginalized indigenous group in Philippine society.
๐ ๐. ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ป๐ฎ๐๐๐ฏ๐ผ ๐ง๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ถ๐น ๐๐ป๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ป๐
Over centuries, Aetas have scattered farther across the Philippine archipelago, specifically in northern and central Luzon, originally settling near riverbeds in Zambales and in different areas in Luzon. The unexpected and catastrophic eruption of Mt. Pinatubo in 1991 buried and covered their ancestral homes with ashes. Since then, many Aetas migrated to a much more urbanized area and resettled in places like Capas, Tarlac. Mt. Pinatuboโs crater lake became a popular tourist attraction; however, this tourist destination bypassed the Aetas, who have been partially excluded from meaningful participation, financially, and being a primary stakeholder who are directly affected by growing tourism concerns as they are the ancestral landowners of the areas in Mt. Pinatubo, but now remaining as mere receivers of below minimum wage. Exploiting the land for tourism and local governments and private operators collect profits, causing disturbance in their home, and their livelihood is overlooked.
Recently this year in Capas, the Aeta communities have faced recurring disputes linked to the continuous tourism over at Mt. Pinatubo โ โMt.Pinatubo Trail Incidentโ, where the Aeta communities have resettled and made it their home with the ๐๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐ฃ๐ค๐ช๐จ ๐๐๐ค๐ฅ๐ก๐๐จ ๐๐๐๐๐ฉ๐จ ๐ผ๐๐ฉ ๐ค๐ ๐ญ๐ต๐ต๐ณ (๐๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ช๐ค ๐๐ค๐ต ๐๐ฐ. 8371, ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ฑ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ 1). The Aeta community stood boldly by barricading the trail of Mt. Pinatubo, to stop tourists from coming in, halting the tourism activities to raise awareness for their plight. The key provision of the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act of 1997 states that the indigenous people have the right to own, develop, control, and use lands and resources within their ancestral domains, with protection against interference. It also boldly states that the indigenous people have the right to stay in their ancestral territories and not be relocated without consent, or forced out. Thus, the barricade at the trail is a gesture of protest, voicing out that they have rights provided regarding their ancestral domain in Mt. Pinatubo. And that their community had had enough, and that it's time once again that their ๐ง๐๐๐๐ฉ๐จ ๐๐ฃ ๐ฉ๐๐๐๐ง ๐๐ฃ๐๐๐จ๐ฉ๐ง๐๐ก ๐๐ค๐ข๐๐๐ฃ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ง๐๐๐ค๐๐ฃ๐๐ฏ๐๐. This protest by the Aeta community has alerted local authorities and detained some of the members of the Aeta communities who took a stand in front of the barricade: a violation of rights and a threat to the Aeta community.
๐ฆ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ง๐ฎ๐น๐น ๐๐บ๐ถ๐ฑ๐๐ ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ท๐๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฒ
Their struggle in the community has become a reminder to every Filipino that behind beautiful landscapes, there are minorities fighting a hostile neglect caused by decades of bureaucratic dismissal and broken, empty promises written on paper, but not fully honored through actions and proper advocacies. Minority groups such as the Aeta communities echo their voices for justice. โ๐๐ฉ๐๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ฌ๐๐ก ๐ฃ๐๐ฎ๐ค ๐๐ ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ข๐๐ ๐ ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ฉ๐ช๐๐ค ๐จ๐ ๐ ๐๐ฃ๐๐ก๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ก๐ช๐ฅ๐, ๐๐ฃ๐ค ๐๐ ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ ๐๐ง๐๐ฅ๐๐ฉ๐๐ฃ?โ Divina Cabalet, the chieftain from one of the Aeta communities, cries during an interview with the GMA Public Affairs. Raising her questions and concerns regarding their rightful authority to their ancestral land in Mt. Pinatubo. โNagkaroon tayo ng memorandum of agreement tungkol sa Mt. Pinatubo Trail, at ang shares ng mga katutubo sa tourism ay 25% na siyaโ โ stated by a constituent from the Capas Municipality, which reveals the shares received by the Aeta communities in the Mt. Pinatubo, suggesting that 25% is unfairly distributed to the stakeholders. Not enough to support the livelihood of the Aeta communities that endure several and different forms of challenges in their community. A ๐๐๐ง๐ง๐๐๐๐๐ ๐จ๐๐ฉ ๐๐ฎ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ผ๐๐ฉ๐ ๐๐ค๐ข๐ข๐ช๐ฃ๐๐ฉ๐ฎ ๐๐จ ๐ฃ๐ค๐ฉ ๐๐ฃ ๐๐๐ฉ ๐ค๐ ๐ง๐๐๐๐ก๐ก๐๐ค๐ฃ ๐ค๐ง ๐๐๐๐๐๐ฃ๐๐; ๐๐ฉ ๐๐จ ๐จ๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ก๐ฎ ๐๐ฃ ๐๐๐ฉ ๐ค๐ ๐ฅ๐ก๐๐ ๐๐ค๐ง ๐๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐๐๐, ๐จ๐ช๐๐๐๐๐ฉ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ฉ๐๐๐ข ๐ฉ๐ค ๐ฉ๐๐๐๐ง ๐๐ฃ๐๐๐จ๐ฉ๐ง๐๐ก ๐๐ค๐ข๐๐๐ฃโ ๐ค๐ง ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐ค๐ข๐ ๐ฉ๐๐๐ฉ ๐จ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐๐๐ฃ๐จ ๐ฉ๐๐๐ข. Not only is their ancestral land respected and preserved, but their identity and cultural dignity have shaped who they are from centuries ago until today.
โ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฅ๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ช๐ถ๐น๐น ๐๐น๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐ฑโ
Displacement of indigenous people in the Philippines is not rare or a new rising problem faced by other indigenous communities in the Philippines. In more recent years, located in the whispering and green mountains and quiet river valleys of northern Philippines, Chico River, a lifeblood through the ancestral lands of indigenous communities. The Chico River, stretched hundreds of kilometers through Mountain Province and Kalinga, is not just water coursing through, but it's the livelihood of the indigenous people settling there. It is the โriver of lifeโ that holds a sacred purpose that nourishes and sustains 12 tributaries and provides vital resources for generations, and traditions are shared. Yet, the sacred river is under siege.
The Upper Tabuk and Karayan dams loom and creep as colossal threats to the indigenous communities. The irrigation is cloaked in controversy as those dams are drawn and pinned on sacred ancestral domains, and have sparked opposition since the year 1970. For more than five decades, the indigenous people located in the Cordilleran region have been facing the threat against the rising tide and gushing splash of dam projects that drown their homes. Despite the colorful said promises for economic progress of the dam, many indigenous groups oppose this idea as it disrupts their livelihood in the Chico River and leads to the displacement of their communities. This challenge within indigenous communities remains unresolved due to ongoing disputes over the process perceived as exclusionary or manipulated, raising concerns about allegations of bribery and division among the tribes. A continued and shared struggle of indigenous people in the Philippines, highlighting that many of the indigenous communities are to be recognized with their rights, dignity, and respect. The Aeta community is not the only indigenous people that are facing such a problem, as it is not a unique problem, but a continuous one faced by many and different indigenous communities in the Philippines.
And as the nation honors and celebrates National Indigenous Peoples Month, dedicated to the rich heritage of the country and the diverse people behind struggles and victories, it is a call to conscience that invites Filipinos from every corner of the archipelago and global citizens to recognize the whispers and turn them into amplified voices that echoes advocacy, solidarity, and justice with Indigenous people, such as the Aeta community and other indigenous people in the Philippines. ๐๐ค ๐จ๐ฉ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ฌ๐๐ฉ๐ ๐ฉ๐๐๐ข, ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ข๐๐ ๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ง๐๐๐๐ฉ ๐๐๐ค๐๐๐๐จ ๐ฌ๐๐ฉ๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ง๐๐๐๐ฉ ๐ข๐ค๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐๐ฉ๐๐ค๐ฃ๐จ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐๐ค๐ฃ๐ฉ๐๐ฃ๐ช๐ ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ฃ๐จ๐ช๐ง๐ ๐ฉ๐๐๐ฉ ๐ฅ๐ง๐ค๐ฅ๐๐ง๐ก๐ฎ ๐ข๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ก๐๐ฌ๐จ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ช๐ฅ๐๐๐ก๐ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐๐ค๐ฃ๐ฉ๐๐ฃ๐ช๐ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐ฅ๐ง๐ค๐ฉ๐๐๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐ฃ๐ค๐ช๐จ ๐ฅ๐๐ค๐ฅ๐ก๐ ๐ค๐ ๐ค๐ช๐ง ๐๐ค๐ช๐ฃ๐ฉ๐ง๐ฎ. To protect and preserve where footprints are never erased and forgotten, but honored and recognized.
By Geriane Tomas
Illustration by Merclie Fabros
