Senate probe on Aeta displacement due to Clark City project sought

Senator Risa Hontiveros has filed a resolution seeking an investigation into the possible displacement of 20,000 Aetas and other indigenous communities due to the construction of the New Clark City (NCC) Development Project.

"Pinagmalaki natin ang mga katutubong kultura sa opening ng SEA Games sa New Clark City pero tinatanggalan naman natin sila ng lupa at kabuhayan," Hontiveros said in a statement.

Filed early this week, Senate Resolution No. 257 urged the Senate Committee on Cultural Communities to conduct a probe as "there is an estimated 15,000 local farmers and 20,000 Aeta and Abelling indigenous communities" that are likely to be affected by the project.

"Development should not come at the expense of the rights and welfare of indigenous communities and of the environment. Hindi tunay ang pag-unlad kung may paglabag ito sa karapatan ng mga katutubo at ng kalikasan," Hontiveros said.

According to the statement, the Bases Conversion Development Authority (BCDA) issued an eviction notice to Aeta families of Barangay Aranguren in Capas, Tarlac to give way to the construction of a road connecting the Clark International Airport to NCC.

However, Hontiveros argued that the indigenous communities in the area are protected by the Indigenous People's Rights Act (IPRA).

Section 2 of the act states that the government "shall protect the rights of ICCs/IPs to their ancestral domains to ensure their economic, social and cultural well being and shall recognize the applicability of customary laws governing property rights or relations in determining the ownership and extent of ancestral domain."

Though BCDA claimed that there are no ancestral domains in the area, Hontiveros argued that indigenous communities "have always faced enormous difficulties in obtaining official documents of ancestral lands."

"The difficulty of obtaining official documents to prove ownership has impeded the capacity of our indigenous people to protect their lands. This is a failure of the bureaucracy and not of IP communities," she said.

Also noted in the resolution was the efforts made by the Aeta communities in applying for Certificates of Ancestral Domain Titles in 1999 and 2019 for 18,000 hectares in Tarlac.

Meanwhile, BCDA said that they followed the due process by consulting the Capas local government and offering a financial assistance package of P300,000 per hectare or P30 per square meter.

Hontiveros, however, said that this was not enough as people needed to understand that "it is not just homes and livelihoods" being taken away from Indigenous communities but their "cultural identity" as well.

"Ang lupa nila, extension ng pagkatao nila 'yan at hindi lang basta-basta kinukuha at binabayaran," Hontiveros said.

"We need to ensure that development comes in a way that indigenous people, cultures, and the environment are protected and remain sustainable. We need to build greener and smarter cities that include everyone," she added. —Joahna Lei Casilao/KBK, GMA News