Capas, Tarlac — Hundreds of Aeta families allegedly being initimidated by a military unit to force them to leave their communities here have sought the help of President Duterte to stop the harassment.
Tarlac Rep. Noel Villanueva said Duterte’s intervention is seen by indigenous people of Tarlac as a last resort in addressing their “grim plight.”
Villanueva also called the attention of Congress and the Department of National Defense to put an end to the harassment of the helpless Aeta families as they defend their historic right to their lands that are situated in several barangays that are within the military reservation covered by the Clark Air Base land formerly run by the US military.
Villanueva lamented that his call for a congressional investigation of the plight of the Aeta people which is embodied in House Resolution 1896 has remained unacted upon in the Lower House.
“A military outpost manned by the Philippine AirForce and positioined between Barangays Patling and Sta. Juliana has been preventing, since 2014, the ingress of construction materials to be used for house repairs and the egress of forest and agricultural products to be sold by the Aetas in the barangay centers for their daily subsistence,” Villanueva disclosed as he raised the issue during the recent. plenary budget deliberatioin for the Department of Defense.
He added: “These restrictions have deprived the Aetas of their main source of livelihood and prevented them from repairing houses that were destroyed by several typhoons that hit their villages.”
The Aetas have petitioned for the grant of a Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title (CADT) over an estimated land area of 11,445 hectares in Barangays Anupul, Bamban, Sta. Juliana, Patling, and Maruglu, all in Capas.
The National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) has passed the CADT on first reading during an en banc session last year.
Included in the area is the Crow Valley Gunnery Range which the AFP intends to develop into an international gunnery range.
Villanueva said the CVGR Development Plan “will surely cause massive dislocation of Aeta and non-Aeta residents in the affected barangays.”
“So far the AFP has not presented to the affected communities their plan to compensate and relocate them in communities where they can continue with their normal lives and means of livelihood,” said Villanueva.
“I hope President Duterte will take a close look at the plight of the downtrodden Aeta IP, and move towards the recognition of their historic rights to their land, so that they may forever live undistrubed on these lands that their forefathers have nurtured,” the senior administration lawmaker said.
http://www.mb.com.ph/aetas-in-capas-under-siege-says-solon/
Tarlac Rep. Noel Villanueva said Duterte’s intervention is seen by indigenous people of Tarlac as a last resort in addressing their “grim plight.”
Villanueva also called the attention of Congress and the Department of National Defense to put an end to the harassment of the helpless Aeta families as they defend their historic right to their lands that are situated in several barangays that are within the military reservation covered by the Clark Air Base land formerly run by the US military.
Villanueva lamented that his call for a congressional investigation of the plight of the Aeta people which is embodied in House Resolution 1896 has remained unacted upon in the Lower House.
“A military outpost manned by the Philippine AirForce and positioined between Barangays Patling and Sta. Juliana has been preventing, since 2014, the ingress of construction materials to be used for house repairs and the egress of forest and agricultural products to be sold by the Aetas in the barangay centers for their daily subsistence,” Villanueva disclosed as he raised the issue during the recent. plenary budget deliberatioin for the Department of Defense.
He added: “These restrictions have deprived the Aetas of their main source of livelihood and prevented them from repairing houses that were destroyed by several typhoons that hit their villages.”
The Aetas have petitioned for the grant of a Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title (CADT) over an estimated land area of 11,445 hectares in Barangays Anupul, Bamban, Sta. Juliana, Patling, and Maruglu, all in Capas.
The National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) has passed the CADT on first reading during an en banc session last year.
Included in the area is the Crow Valley Gunnery Range which the AFP intends to develop into an international gunnery range.
Villanueva said the CVGR Development Plan “will surely cause massive dislocation of Aeta and non-Aeta residents in the affected barangays.”
“So far the AFP has not presented to the affected communities their plan to compensate and relocate them in communities where they can continue with their normal lives and means of livelihood,” said Villanueva.
“I hope President Duterte will take a close look at the plight of the downtrodden Aeta IP, and move towards the recognition of their historic rights to their land, so that they may forever live undistrubed on these lands that their forefathers have nurtured,” the senior administration lawmaker said.
http://www.mb.com.ph/aetas-in-capas-under-siege-says-solon/
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