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And for us to see their beautiful smiles again..

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And for us to see their beautiful smiles again..

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Medical assistance is what they need the most, even though they are not asking for help you will see in their eyes that they need for it. In the back of their minds, they screaming for help, in the back of their minds they are thinking about the future. They need to be strong and healthy not only for themselves but also for their family, for their next generations to come.

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LENDING YOU MY EARS AND HEART, TO BE YOUR VOICE...

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LENDING YOU MY EARS AND HEART, TO BE YOUR VOICE...

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Addressing this problems of Aeta Community is not as easy as it is. But I hope, that someday, Government will hear their voices, and most especially, I hope that the day comes when the world listen and hear their hearts.

When I was in High School, Aeta Tribes captured my heart. That's why I promised myself to help these Aeta Tribes as much as I can help them, I promised myself to be their voice someday, and until now I am keeping those promises, waiting for the right time to fulfill it. Waiting for the right time to lend my ears and heart to them, to be their voice.

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But of course, technology also has a disadvantage use when it comes to problem of Aeta when talks about their ancestral land being taken from them without mercy. Why? Because in order to destroy a land,  and build new infrastructure to it, you need the use of technology. Lastly, technology is also trying to destroy the Mother Nature for building this New Clark City.

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The 2 out of 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations can bring back the Justice and right of the Aeta Tribes in their own ancestral land and can provide medical assistance in the mountains of Capas, Tarlac for the health of the Aetas.

Also by the use of technology, it can make the goals easier to achieve. For example, the need of technology like medical truck and other medical equipment technology are the most important in providing medical assistance.

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With the two of the most problems that the Aeta Tribes are facing, United Nations' 3rd and 16th Sustainable Development Goals can be a big help to this community. These two goals talks about, Good health and well-being (Goal 3) that ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages, and the Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions (Goal 16) which promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels.

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AETA TRIBES ARRIVED IN SAPANG KAWAYANG VILLAGE IN CAPAS, TARLAC

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AETA TRIBES ARRIVED IN SAPANG KAWAYANG VILLAGE IN CAPAS, TARLAC

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Some says that there are people who received compensation from the BCDA for their evacuation in their land.

But a heart-melting words that came from a 74-year-old Jose Capiz is that, “Once you spend the money, it’s gone. Our land is more valuable to us because it was given to us by our ancestors and we want the next generation to inherit it".

This statement touches my heart the most, which they became beggars in their own land. That those heartless people behind the said project, they took away the rights and most especially, the life of the Aeta Tribes.

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THE SOLUTIONS

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"DAYUHANG INVESTORS, HANDS OFF!!" -AETA TRIBES

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"DAYUHANG INVESTORS, HANDS OFF!!" -AETA TRIBES

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"NOTICE TO THE PUBLIC" FROM THOSE HEARTLESS INVESTORS.

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"NOTICE TO THE PUBLIC" FROM THOSE HEARTLESS INVESTORS.

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As Aeta Tribes are located in the mountains, the probability of their community being visible to the government is 50/50. Then how about their health? They also need medical assistance too.

Many of the Aetas are having diseases because of the lack of clean water and also, because of the poverty. That's why these Indigenous People also needs help when it comes to their health.

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For the Build, Build, Build project of President Duterte, Aetas' own ancestral land threatens to destroy for the building of New Clark City.

January 2018 when the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) began the construction of the said project of a New Clark City. 2nd day of December 2019 came when 500 Aeta families in Aranguren Village in Capas, Tarlac were given a seven-day notice in their own ancestral land to evacuate from it to give way for the construction of the New Clark City road.

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Husband Birthday Meal Ideas Photo Collage

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To decongest the densely-populated Metro Manila and create opportunities in the northern Philippines, the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) began the construction of the initial phase of New Clark City (NCC), a 9,450-hectare smart city, in January 2018 in the hills of Capas town in Tarlac province.

The "multi-billion dollar" project, which is one of the flagship infrastructure projects of President Rodrigo Duterte's Build, Build, Build program, aims to entice foreign investors to set up businesses in NCC.

But the construction threatens to displace at least 65,000 people from 12 villages, including some 18,000 indigenous people who belong to the Aeta tribe.

At least 300 families were evicted when a sports complex in the Phase 1-A of NCC was built. The massive sports complex includes a stadium, an aquatic center, and an athlete's village where delegates to the 2019 Southeast Asian Games were housed.

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On December 2, 2019, at least 500 families from the Aeta tribe in Aranguren village in Capas town were given a seven-day notice to evacuate from their lands to make way for the construction of the access road from NCC to Clark International Airport.

The letter states that the tribe is living on government-owned land located in the Clark Special Economic Zone.

In March 1992, the late former president Cory Aquino signed into law the Bases Conversion and Development Act of 1992 or BCDA. It is a government corporation that was formed to take over and manage base lands that the U.S. Army abandoned. The law, however, does not say anything about the indigenous people living within the former military base and military reservations.
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Since time immemorial, the Aeta tribal people have been living in the hinterlands of the region, north of Manila.

Tribal chieftain Petronilla Capiz Munoz, known to her family as "Apung Pet," said that her ancestors had been in Capas town long before the BCDA was formed in 1992.

In fact, they were here "long before the Spanish came," Apung Pet added. She and her family live in a tribal community called Sapang Kawayan, literally meaning Bamboo Creek, in Aranguren village.

Apung Pet claimed their clan inherited some 8,000-hectares of ancestral land from their forefathers.

The BCDA offers the affected communities some $5,900 per hectare of land and relocation sites, but did not disclose where the Aetas would move to.
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Apung Pet said that some claimants who received the compensation from the BCDA are not from their clan and not from their ancestral territory.

"They only pretended that they are from here so they could receive financial assistance. I don't even know who they are but I'm sure they're not from here," she explained.
Old Blood
"Once you spend the money, it's gone. Our land is more valuable to us because it was given to us by our ancestors and we want the next generation to inherit it," said 74-year-old Jose Capiz, Apung Pet's older brother.
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Growing up in Capas town, Jose knows his way around the hills like the back of his hand. Jose and his siblings are the clan's "Aeta Hungey." "Hungey" means "old blood" in the Aeta language. "Without our blood, the Aetas in Capas would not be alive today," Jose said.

Being the "Hungey," Apung Pet and her family are responsible for resolving conflict within the clan and overseeing the ancestral land. "Anyone who wishes to farm and build their homes within our land must ask permission from our family," Apung Pet said.

"We are not squatters. When our ancestors first came to Capas, they named all the places you can find in this land. They named this village Sapang (stream) Kawayan (bamboo) because they saw abundant bamboo trees along the stream," the tribal leader said.

"Sapang Kawayan, Patling, Malutong Gabun, Cutcut, Oyangoren - these are just a few places whose names were given by our ancestors. Outsiders could not pronounce Oyangoreng so it became 'Aranguren,'" she said.

When the news about the tribal displacement broke, the BCDA published a statement regarding the seven-day notice for evacuation.

In the statement posted on their website last December 5, 2019, the BCDA said that consultations were made with the local government. Apung Pet said she was never included in the conversation.
Life in Sapang Kawayan
In Sapang Kawayan, Jose planted corn, rice, and sweet potatoes in a plot of land near his hut. His harvests were sold in the markets in Capas.

Though he makes decent money, he worries about his wife, 64-year-old Corazon Capiz who was paralyzed after suffering from a stroke four years ago.

Despite her condition, Corazon made herself useful. She set up a small convenience store in her hut selling drinks, snacks, and cigarettes, which Jose buys from the market in Capas.
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Unable to move the left side of her body, Corazon sits on her cot all day. The cot was placed beside the makeshift shop, where the items were displayed on shelves attached to a window with a small opening.

Customers would peek through and hand her money through the opening. When she gets tired, Jose would help her lay down.

"I don't know how I would survive outside Sapang Kawayan. I can't work at my age now and with this condition," Corazon said.

Jose and Corazon's 12 children have already left Sapang Kawayan to work. All of them are married, blessing the couple with 45 grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

"If we leave this place, what will I give to my children and grandchildren?" Jose lamented. Though his children and grandchildren have moved out, Jose said that they are entitled to the land as Aeta Hungeys.

Jose never dreamed of living in the city. "It's not the life that my family and I are used to," he said. "I didn't finish school, so how will I work in the city?"

What concerns Jose the most is the way city-dwellers treat the Aetas. "People from the city look down on us. They cover their noses as if disgusted by the sight of an Aeta."

Jose also feels that the city is not a safe place to live, saying that "there are a lot of thieves." In Sapang Kawayan, he could walk for hours in the mountains and trust his neighbors to look after his house and his family.

"Will the government be able to provide us land where my children and grandchildren could farm and live the way we do now? Will that place be as safe as Sapang Kawayan?" Jose wondered.

"If there are opportunities and relocation sites for the Aetas, we wanted to know what and where these would be," he added.

In Sapang Kawayan, the Capiz clan is well-respected. Apart from the livelihood, the Aetas consider the land sacred since their parents and ancestors are buried here.
We Are Filipinos, Too
Seven days passed since the Aetas received the notice to evacuate from BCDA. The community was scheduled to leave sometime in early to mid-December 2019, but no one came to evict them.
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The BCDA did not respond after multiple follow-ups on a request for an interview.

With the help of human rights advocate and lawyer Attorney Antonio La Viña, the Aeta people responded to the government's notice to evacuate.

In the letter dated December 5, 2019, La Viña reiterated that the former military base and reservation in Capas is an ancestral land and that the consent of the communities is needed before entering the land.

The communities can stay in their ancestral land, he argued, and must not be evicted without consent.

The lawyer attached documents proving that the Aetas were in fact in Capas long before the Americans set up bases and reservations in the Philippines.

One document was a report by the General Directorate for Civil Administration of the Spanish government in the Philippines, dated March 7, 1881.

The report aimed to inform the King of Spain that a Spanish missionary priest had successfully assembled some 50 families of Negrito Balugas or Aetas into a basic unit called a barrio.

"At the same time, I believe, it is my desire to tell Your Excellency, for the satisfaction of those interested, that the formation of the Barrio in the Capas Township, aside from its missionary, Fray Felix Perez, has been also effectively contributed by the immediate and present gobernardorcillios, Don Crispin Capis and Don Isabelo Mayuyo, with their repeated excursions to these mountain people who they continue verifying," the report read.

As of writing this report, some of the mountains were already flattened as the project is set to be completed in December 2020.

Sapang Kawayan remains untouched, at least for now.

"We don't know if the government would hear us out, but we will continue to fight, not with violence, but with principles," Apung Pet said.

Echoing his sister's words, Jose put up a sign by the dirt road leading to Sapang Kawayan. On a white tarpaulin, he hand-painted the words "Ipaglaban Ang Karapatang Pantao ng Aeta," which means "Let's Fight for the Aetas' Rights."

"We are not against a development project, especially if it would benefit many Filipinos, but we are Filipinos, too," Apung Pet said.
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"What makes it worse for the Aetas," Apung Pet continued, "is that the foreign investors already entered the ancestral land without consulting the tribal elders."

After almost two decades since the Aetas applied for the Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title (CADT), the National Commission for Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) still has not granted the title to the Aetas.

"NCIP's inaction angers me," Apung Pet said.

Before she became a chieftain, there had already been three tribal leaders who worked to obtain the CADT but all of them were unsuccessful despite submitting complete requirements.

"All we want is for the government to recognize our rights," she added.
Bernice Beltran is a photographer and writer based in Manila.

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Philippines' 'Smart City' Threatens Tribal Displacement

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Advertisement To decongest the densely-populated Metro Manila and create opportunities in the northern Philippines, the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) began the construction of the initial phase of New Clark City (NCC), a 9,450-hectare smart city, in January 2018 in the hills of Capas town in Tarlac province.

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THE PROBLEMS

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Outdoors Mountain Landscape Social Media Thumbnail (4)

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Aeta tribes are excluded one way or another the development loop, caught up rather in the vicious cycle of geographical and cultural isolation, landlessness, massive  poverty and severe lack of access to and denial of fundamental needs —food and nutrition, safe water supply, health and health care, sanitation and hygiene, housing, clothing and energy and education.                                                                                  In order to continuously survive in the village, they keep their livelihood resources alive all time by means of gardening, trading or vending, hunting and other source for survival of the community. Most especially, they give their 100% by taking care of their ancestral lands. Because these ancestral lands are their life. Without it, they cannot live, they cannot survive. Below is the structural conditions of Aeta Tribes for the longest time until now.

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Aeta tribes are excluded one way or another the development loop, caught up rather in the vicious cycle of geographical and cultural isolation, landlessness, massive  poverty and severe lack of access to and denial of fundamental needs —food and nutrition, safe water supply, health and health care, sanitation and hygiene, housing, clothing and energy and education.                                                                                  In order to continuously survive in the village, they keep their livelihood resources alive all time by means of gardening, trading or vending, hunting and other source for survival of the community. Most especially, they give their 100% by taking care of their ancestral lands. Because these ancestral lands are their life. Without it, they cannot live, they cannot survive. Below is the structural conditions of Aeta Tribes for the longest time until now.

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AETAS COMMUNITY: THEIR POPULATION AND ECONOMIC CONDITION

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According to the 2010 Census (table shown to the left), City of Tarlac has a total population of 318,332 and 125,852 of this population is from the Municipality of Capas. With the number of population from the Municipalityof Capas, Tarlac, 6,973 of them are the family of Aetas with a total number of 26,232 individuals/Aetas Shown in the table at the right.

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Aetas are one of the various Indigenous Filipino ethnic groups and tribes in the Philippines. Aetas are the first settlers in the Philippines. They are known in history as the Negritos or the curly-people who live in the mountains. Their tribe has been one of the longest existing indigenous people of the country and their culture remains intact to these days. Aetas can be found in the different parts of the Philippines, in Zambales, Tarlac, Pampanga, Panay, Bataan, and Nueva Ecija.

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ONE OF THE AETA COMMUNITY'S LOCATION 📍

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WELCOME TO  THE AETAS COMMUNITY IN CAPAS, TARLAC

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WELCOME TO  THE AETAS COMMUNITY IN CAPAS, TARLAC