09/08/2025
𝗙𝗘𝗔𝗧𝗨𝗥𝗘 | 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗪𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗙𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗬𝗲𝘁 𝗙𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗼𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗻
As the day dawns over the lahar-covered landscape of Porac, Aeta communities walk barefoot across the land they have called home for centuries. A child trudges through a muddy path to reach a school that barely remembers his history, no jeep, no uniform, just silence. It is a haunting memorial to how we’ve made them strangers in their own soil. Have we pushed them aside in the name of “progress”?
Today marks the International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples, a day dedicated to honoring indigenous communities, especially the voiceless and the marginalized. In Porac, the Aetas trace their ancestral connection to the land back countless generations. Long before us, this land was theirs—protected, cherished, and ruled by them. They were the guardians of forests, rivers, and stories. But history has rarely been kind. The catastrophic eruption of Mt. Pinatubo in 1991 scattered their communities and uprooted their lives. What remained of their lands was taken, converted into malls, housing projects, military zones, and more. In return, they were given the bare minimum.
Today, their struggles remain. Quarrying strips the mountains bare. Development creeps into what little ancestral domain is left. Access to education and healthcare is scarce, and when it exists, it often comes without cultural understanding or respect. Discrimination, both subtle and outright, lingers in schools, workplaces, and public life. For many, the Aetas are either invisible or viewed through the outdated lens of stereotype, never truly seen for the full humanity and dignity they carry.
And yet, they endure. The Aeta elders still speak in their own tongue, though fewer young ones understand. They continue their traditions, pass on their dances, songs, and stories, even as the world around them changes faster than they can adapt. They survive not because the world has been kind, but because they refuse to disappear.
We, as students, cannot claim to honor Indigenous Peoples Day if we remain silent about the struggles in our own backyard. Memory without action is just performance. The fight to protect indigenous rights is not just the fight of the Aetas, it is a fight for justice, truth, and the soul of this land.
They were here first. And they are still here. Forgotten only if we allow it.
Written by Rav Tuazon
Illustration by Rav Tuazon
