Indigenous Peoples’ Apostolate

Sr. Josephine C. Ignacio, SP

Coordinator, IPA

About us:

The Caritas-Bataan Indigenous Peoples' Apostolate (CB-IPA) is a special arm within the Diocesan Commission on Social Services. Its role is to concentrate on the needs of the indigenous peoples in the province of Bataan, the Aetas. The IPA was set up in March 1998. Its initial assistance to the Aetas was the adoption of a scholarship program for a limited number of Aeta children. Realizing that other socio-legal and economic concerns continued to assail the Aetas, the IPA facilitated the federation of the eighteen (18) Aeta communities into one umbrella group: Panlalawigang Asosasyon ng mga Ayta sa Bataan (PANABAT, Inc.). This association serves as forum for tribal leaders to speak out on issues of education, health, livelihood, culture, and land claims. CB-IPA trained two Aeta leaders to work as Paralegal officer and Sustainable Agriculture officer, respectively. The greater proportion of CB-IPA ’'s ministry is given to the advocacy needs of the remaining seventeen (17) Aeta communities that are still working on their ancestral land claims.

The Aetas, our partners:

The Aetas are said to be the first inhabitants of the archipelago. According to historians, others of their kin lived in Malacca, Sumatra, Java, Formosa, New Guinea and in a majority of the Philippine Islands (Paguio, 1997). In Bataan, they number around 2,500 and are scattered in 18 settlements or “ bayan-bayanan”. Each settlement is headed by a chieftain and his/her council of elders. In Bataan, seven (7) communities have a woman for their chieftain. Due to the diminishing forest area where they used to roam freely as nomads, the Aetas adapted to a settled community life. This was a consequence of the influx of migrants to the uplands and the government’s policy on commercial logging. With lowlanders settling with them, their former unknown villages grew to barangays or barrios. Thus, basic services became accessible to them, however minimal: barangay health centers, multi-grade classrooms, electricity (in some areas), farm to market roads, chapels, etc. Inter-marriages are common, and their offspring are called “mestizos ”. These factors helped to seal their decision to keep a home in the barangay or settlement.

However, their spirit longs for the mountains where their ancestors lived, worshipped and were laid to rest. Thus, they also keep huts and farms up in the mountains, far from other non-Aetas. These make up their ancestral domain. With the Indigenous People’s Rights

Act (IPRA) or R.A. 8371, despite its flaws, our indigenous peoples can someday return to these areas free from threats of expulsion, safeguarding their culture which is slowly disappearing as a result of their integration into the “ mainstream”.

The Aetas are a friendly people. They have kinky black hair, dark skin; are short in stature and very shy in nature. They have characteristically long and curly eyelashes, covering round smiling eyes. Their beautiful smiles can win over the hearts of strangers.

Unfortunately, many lowlanders still see them as an inferior and miserable race, as beneficiaries of dole-outs and of used clothes. Aetas in Bataan work hard and do not resort to begging in the streets. Money, which is a measure of status among lowlanders, is not a common commodity among Aetas. This is an area where their integration into the mainstream (lowland society) puts them at a disadvantage.

Unknown to many, the Aetas and other indigenous groups have rich indigenous knowledge, systems and practices that sustained their communities long before the coming of Western culture. They speak in their native tongue. They call the Creator God, “ Bapa ” (or Father) . Life and faith for them are one. The realm of the spirit is in harmony with physical realities. If lowlanders believe in the communion of saints, Aetas believe in the harmony that exists among creatures. Thus, they breathe on a stone when they cross a river for the first time; they rarely cut big trees, and when they do so, it is always with a ritual. They do not displace big rocks lest they disturb the spirits; they pick only the fruits that they can eat on a day’'s journey and leave the rest for other passers-by.

They do not accumulate, but gather only food for a day. They travel light (no pots or pans, stocks of food, etc.) believing that the spirits in the forests will provide for their needs. They build simple huts knowing that their destination is somewhere else. They practice gasak ” (slash and burn) which is a sustainable farming method. Clearing a small area for one family to plant root crops or rice, they cut certain small trees like “cacahuate ” for their fuel needs. They stay there for a year at the most, receiving what nature gives them. Then, they move to another area, giving the soil three (3) years to replenish itself. They till upland rice varieties which are superior in quality and do not require chemical fertilizers.

No agency, government or non-government, can equal our indigenous peoples in their love for the land. It is their very LIFE. As one Aeta elder, in a consultation meeting with a mining company, stated with finality: "If this quarrying project will affect the lives of the people in the lowlands and damage our mountains, we do not want this project even if you promise us benefits. " It does not suffice that government employs our Aetas as forest rangers. The government should give them back their ancestral land, titled and all, to ensure the present and future generations of humankind a more secure planet to live in.

So what are the root causes of poverty of the Aetas? What are their needs?

1. Land security. Some indigenous communities were awarded their land through Presidential proclamations before the WWII. Those who were not so lucky have had to struggle for land security from one generation to the next. Aetas who grew up in the 60s and 70s were easily expelled from their ancestral lands and have had to move to areas far from water sources, where even land encroachers and big corporations are not willing to go. CB-IPA assists the Aeta communities with their titling applications and coordinates with the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples(NCIP) and another NGO to fast-track their applications.

2. Food security. Without land security, there can be no food security. While remaining vigilant for intruders, Aetas eke out a living by farming in “ safe ” areas, relying on rainwater for their crops. Summer is spent digging root crops or gathering wild honey from the forest. Simultaneously with the processing of their land claims, CB-IPA is working on a partnership with the communities to promote and propagate their disappearing indigenous rice varieties and agro-forestry.

3. Indigenous education system. We know that the education system is one carrier of culture. The western system of education has brought in western culture and, thus, the invasion of western values and products into every fiber of our life. For our Aeta sisters and brothers who are still aware of their indigenous culture, integration into the mainstream confuses them all the more. Thus, Aeta students are commonly known for their absenteeism and low grades. And yet, we are all aware that academic grades are not necessarily indicators of intelligence. Our Aetas, up in the mountains, are experts in their

own field. In fact, modern society has so much to learn from their indigenous ways if we are to save our planet from further destruction. The Indigenous Peoples' ’ Apostolate South-Central Luzon network is developing an indigenous education system that will

also be recognized by the Department of Education. The said system will hopefully be in place by 2007. In the meantime, CB-IPA assists sixteen (16) Aeta high school students with scholarships from an NGO and from generous individuals. The students gather twice a month at the CB-IPA office for tutorials, orientation on IPRA, and sharing on their indigenous culture.

4. Recognition of their rights to participate in the civil government. Aetas are pushing for their right to participate in the governmental, decision-making process, i.e. in the provincial level, especially in areas affecting them. Their active participation will eliminate the dole-out mentality and manipulations come election time. They desire to be considered as partners, rather than as mere beneficiaries, of government programs.

Lastly, our Aetas feel miserable because they are discriminated against because of their color and appearance. If only lowlanders would look at them with the same eyes with which God stares at them lovingly! Try spending a day or two with them. Bring nothing but yourself and a listening heart. At the end of your stay, you will hear yourself saying: “ "Teach me more about your culture, your lifestyle, your values! ”" For they, too, have known God long before you brought your Bible to them. God walked in their forests long before you set foot in their abode.