The Aetas of Botolan, Zambales at the foot of Mt. Pinatubo is a community of 150 families, numbering about 700. The leader of the group, 50 year-old Carling Dumulot did not have a formal education, nonetheless, he is literate and a very articulate person. In fact, he has been invited abroad to speak on diverse issues that affect the lives of indigenous communities in the country. As a leader of LAKAS (Lubos Alyansa ng mga Katutubong Zambales), an organization of Aetas in Zambales, he is frequently asked to speak in various seminar-workshops for indigenous people in different parts of the country. His present community, although not yet high in literacy, takes pride in having produced seven college graduates who are currently working with non government organizations; while others are still in college and the rest in secondary and elementary school.
But such was not always the case. As a matter of fact, the community’s liberation from the bondage of illiteracy and exploitation was an arduous journey characterized by hard work, commitment and trust.
Carling painfully remembers how cunning lowlanders exploited their community because nobody among them knew how to read, write and count. The wisdom of their elders did not offset their lack of literacy. Carling tells of their experience of sometimes being paid only with a can of sardines in exchange for vegetables and fruits they brought to the market to sell.
However, a whiff of change came in 1982 when the Franciscan Sisters (FMM) came to live among them. The Sisters organized the community and taught them how to read, write and count.
Literacy not only provided them with skills how to be self sufficient but also brought them a sense of freedom from politicians and people of their kind who come around every election time to court their votes.
“Ang isa pa naming problema, kasi pagdating ng eleksiyon, iyong gusto naming iboto, ipapasulat namin, pagdating naman doon ang isinusulat nila ay iyong gusto nilang tao,” Carling says. (Election time also creates another problem for us since we cannot write down the names of those we want to vote for. Those who write for us usually put the names of their candidates.)
Inevitably, the nightly literacy sessions, and effective community organizing conducted by the Sisters paid off. In due time the community found their voice and their strength as a group. Accordingly, it was also unavoidable to escape the scrutiny of the military.
“Sabi nila sa amin ay lalaban kami sa gobyerno, dahil tinuturuan kami ng mga madre. Iyon ang akusasyon sa amin. Dinadala pa nga kami sa headquarters.” (They accused us of plotting against the government, because the Sisters are teaching us. They even brought us to headquarters for questioning.)
Carling credited it to the efficient organization learned from the Sisters that their community is still intact even as other Aeta communities were dispersed due to the eruption of Mount Pinatubo.
“Siguro kung hindi kami nabigyan ng seminar at hindi nag organisa, maaari sabog kami.” (Perhaps, we would have been dispersed, had not the Sisters given us seminars and taught us how to organize.)
Struggle to live in peace and harmony
Down through the centuries, the story of indigenous people was one of struggle, a struggle to live in peace in their own land and in harmony with their fellow humans. The earth is an integral part of the indigenous people’s existence. They are born to it, nurtured by it, and returned to it. It is a God-given gift. So much so, that its purity is akin to the sacredness of human life. The intrinsic relationship that exists between indigenous peoples and the earth is so sacred that they regard it as a desecration when they are displaced from their lands due to development aggression and other factors.
By and large, indigenous peoples, whether home or abroad, are unjustly classified as backward by most people despite the rich cultural heritage they possess and their innate wisdom nurtured by their natural affinity with the earth. Their colorful costumes and traditional practices and rituals provoked endless curiosity among people who have little knowledge and understanding of their culture.
The coming of the Spanish and Americans had marginalized and divided the indigenous communities in the country. While others were assimilated into the mainstream society, there were also those who did not submit to the colonizers’ evangelizing activities and opted to move further away from other communities thus preserving their culture, traditions and rituals in the process.
However, the promise of economic growth brought by industrialization during the time of President Marcos led to the displacement of indigenous peoples from their ancestral lands. As multinational corporations encroached on ancestral domains, the IP’s moved further away into hinterlands, uprooted from their land and source of livelihood. Their inability to read and write, and to understand the Filipino language led others to take advantage of them.
In order to bring into the national consciousness the predicament of the indigenous peoples, the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) in 1978, proclaimed the second Sunday of October as Indigenous Peoples Sunday. Hence, the annual celebration has opened the eyes of millions of Filipinos and brought awareness on the plight of indigenous peoples and the reality of neglect, prejudice, exploitation and landgrabbing they suffered from the hands of their exploiters.
The Church, through ECIP and the indigenous peoples apostolate (IPA) of various dioceses, has been at the forefront in calling attention to the dilemma of the IP’s. There are more than 10 million IPs to date, according to ECIP-IPA handbook, whose continuous struggle for respect and survival challenge us, their Christian brothers and sisters, to reach and help them out of the quandary they are currently stuck in.
R.A. 8371. A landmark legislation
The enactment of Republic Act 8371 or the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act (IPRA) in 1997 was hailed as a landmark legislation both at the home front and abroad inasmuch as it was seen as the key to resolve the ongoing encroachment on ancestral domains and massive land grabbing of ancestral lands.
In general, the IPRA law “seeks to recognize, promote and protect the rights of the IPs. These include the Right to Ancestral Domain and Lands; Right to Self-Governance and Empowerment; Social Justice and Human Rights; and the Right to Cultural Integrity.”
IPRA defines ancestral domains as areas that generally belong to indigenous cultural communities/indigenous peoples (ICC/IP). These comprise lands, inland waters, coastal areas, and natural resources which the ICC/IP occupied or possessed or had a claim of ownership, by themselves or through their ancestors.
The concept of ownership among indigenous peoples holds the view that ancestral domains are the ICCs “private but community property which belongs to all generations and therefore cannot be sold, disposed or destroyed.”
The enactment into law of the IPRA has put to rest the lingering doubts that the indigenous communities in the country are not given priority by the government in terms of improving their quality of life and recognizing their basic rights as citizens.
Nevertheless, enactment is one thing. Implementation is altogether another matter.
Ten years after IPRA’s promulgation, the law proves not to be a clear-cut solution to the problems of encroachment and unjust treatment the indigenous communities live through. Private individuals and multinational corporations still can find a way to trespass on ancestral domains through manipulation and deception.
Undeniably, IPRA opened a floodgate of hope for indigenous communities to reclaim their ancestral lands. In fact, not long after IPRA took into effect a certificate of ancestral domain title (CADT) was awarded to Bakun Indigenous Tribes Organization (BITO), composed of the Kankanaey and Bago peoples of the Benguet province. In 2002, the National Council for Indigenous Peoples (NCIP), the government agency responsible for the formulation and implementation of all programs concerning the rights and well-being of ICCs/IPs; handed the group with a CADT covering 29,444.34 hectares. The breakthrough was achieved through the technical support of the International Labor Organization (ILO) and funding from the Cordillera Highland Agricultural Resources Management Project.
Just recently, NCIP released a report stating that there are 46 CADTs that have been approved nationally, covering 890,891.02 hectares. Expectedly, the approval of these CADTs generates optimism in the hearts of the indigenous peoples. However, the process of getting these CADTs into the hands of the indigenous communities will surely take time considering the many requirements to be met and battles to be won.
Mining on Ancestral Domains
The presence of mining companies encroaching on ancestral domains is another problem that many indigenous communities have to contend with. The Pala’wan (Palawan IPs) for instance, is one particular group that is currently fighting a lonely battle against what can be considered an environmental plague. In its issue of March-April 2005, the ECIP’s newsletter Tribal Forum reported the claim of the Pala’wan that the mining activities of Rio Tuba Mining Nickel Corporation (RTNMC) which had been in operation since 1977, caused environmental degradation and health problems among residents, both IP’s and non-IPs alike. Atty. Jose Florante, legal counsel to the IP’s, told Impact magazine that the mining operations are done in the center of the forest which leads to ecological waste of trees and other vegetative species. Despite the existence of the law that safeguards core zone areas to be protected from any human disruption and consumptive activities, still, “all mining applications are located within core zones,” Florante pointed out.
On top of mining in a restricted forest zone, is yet another activity that deprives the IP’s access to traditional fishing grounds which they believe to be part of their ancestral domain. In 1982, Manuel Cojuangco and Frenchman Jacques Branellec set up Jewelmer Pearl Farm right in the bosom of the IP’s ancestral waters in Bugsuk island in the southernmost tip of Palawan. Jewelmer cordoned the pearl farm area thus preventing the IP’s to fish and pass through it. SAMBILOG (Samahan ng mga Katutubo sa Dulo ng Timog Palawan) asserted its claim to the ancestral domain by applying for a Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title (CADT) with NCIP. On its part, the company petitioned the court to indefinitely ban anyone from entering the pearl farm. Jewelmer argues the farm is a conservation area, as agreed upon in a contract with the municipality of Balabac, hence the company has a right to protect it.
Like the puny David fighting the giant Goliath, the IP of Palawan fights an uncertain battle. Notwithstanding, Church-based groups, NGOs and human rights groups throw their support to Palawan IP’s in their continuous struggle to reclaim their ancestral domain.
Divide and rule
“Ang mining ay isang malaking problema para mawatak ang kultura ng isang tribo” (Mining is a grave problem since it destroys the culture of the indigenous peoples), says Armando Quezon, a Pala’wan from the municipality of Bataraza. Armando speaks here of Rio Tuba Mining. He accuses company management of conspiring with local government officials, and to certain extent, using even their tribal leaders against them, thus dividing the community.
“There is really an outright disinformation going on,” confirms Florante. He explained that the lack of opposition from some IPs might have stemmed from their sense of gratitude to the company for what it had provided to the community, such as hospital building and scholarship fund for deserving students.
Quezon contends that Rio Tuba’s 30 years of operation did not improve at all the community’s standard of living. There was an outbreak of skin lesions last year among residents in the mining community which was attributed to leakage of sulfuric acid from the hydrometallurgical processing plant of Rio Tuba. However, the company denied it, and washed its hands of responsibility claiming, that, “it (skin lesions) was merely caused by the unhygienic practices of the people,” according to Florante.
To call attention to their plight, the Palawan IP’s organized the biggest mobilization in their history as a community, when they marched from Bugsuk to Puerto Princesa in protest of the encroachment of multinational corporations on ancestral domains and degradation of environment caused by unabated mining activities.
Low literacy
Low literacy rate is yet one big problem that goes to the roots of other troubles that hound the IP communities. Undoubtedly, the experience of being taken advantaged of by individuals and corporations alike has opened the eyes of the IPs to the importance of education.
However, education for the ICCs meant much more than just mastering numbers or learning how to read or write. For them it is paramount that education should be based and rooted in indigenous culture and traditions, or else, their identity as a people is lost forever.
Carling and the community of Aetas he belonged to recognize the importance of education in uplifting the community’s living standards and in achieving self-determination. Obviously, he does not see any incompatibility in preserving one’s cultural identity even if one is living in mainstream society. However, he ruefully admits that media have also somehow influenced them, especially in wearing clothes that lowlanders wear.
Carling’s community promotes their culture to mainstream society through street theater. This activity also serves as an identity booster to their youth. Referring to their students off in college, Carling says, “Iyon ay di dapat kalimutan. Dapat balik tanaw sila doon,” (They should not forget who they are. They should always take pride of their culture.)
The students are required to go back home on week ends to work in the farm. Back in the community, they shed off their city clothes and don their g-string. The wages they earned working in the farm are spent for their educational expenses.
