Aetas join kick-off of SBMA celebration

SUBIC BAY FREEPORT – A special flag-raising ceremony on Tuesday participated in by the Aeta community served as the start of the month-long 15th anniversary celebration of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA).

Two young Aeta girls – Marichu Famisan and Mary Joy Mesina, both first year students of the Olongapo City National High School – led the singing of the National Anthem and the Panunumpa sa Watawat, respectively.

The Aetas, garbed in their traditional loincloth and wraparound dress for the occasion, came from the village of Pastolan, some 15 kilometers away from Subic’s central business district.

“This is our way of recognizing the importance of our Aeta brothers who were the first stakeholders of Subic, and who protected our forests and seas even before this place became an American naval base,” said SBMA Administrator Armand Arreza.

“We invited them here today as fellow stakeholders, who must face with the SBMA and other community groups the opportunities and challenges of developing the Subic Bay Freeport Zone,” Arreza added.

Last Tuesday’s flag-raising event also formally kicked off Subic’s observance of Indigenous People’s Week which, under Proclamation No. 1123 of 1997, is observed from Oct. 29 to Nov. 4.

SBMA deputy administrator for corporate communications Maria Asuncion Fernando said the IP Week in Subic would include a courtesy call by top SBMA officials on Aeta tribal leaders in Pastolan, story-telling sessions by volunteers for elementary school children, and a Pastolan immersion program for SBMA employees and their families.

Fernando said she is particularly excited about the immersion program “because it would provide us some understanding of the native Aeta culture, which is slowly being eroded by the onslaught of lowland civilization.”

“Aside from the resulting cross-cultural insights, the immersion program would make for better bonding between the Aetas and other stakeholder groups in Subic,” she added.

Slated after the IP Week are the Community Week, which would focus on communities around the freeport zone; SBMA Employees Week on Nov. 12-17; LGU Week on Nov. 19-24; and Locators’ Week on Nov. 26-30.