CHR decries ‘acts of violence’ vs Aetas in Clark freeport

CLARK FREEPORT, Pampanga , Philippines  â€“ The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) has condemned alleged “acts of violence” against Aeta folk in this freeport, as it vowed to “protect them from all forms of abuse.”

The CHR expressed such condemnation in a letter to Clark Development Corp. (CDC) president Arthur Tugade, asking him “to address the compelling concerns” of Aetas who claimed being “subjected to various forms of threat, intimidation, harassment and physical injuries.”

This, even as Malacañang directed the National Commission on Indigenous People (NCIP) to look into the Aetas’ complaint about “a vanished area of their ancestral domain” in the freeport’s vicinity.

In her letter to Tugade, CHR regional director Jasmin Navarro-Regino cited the complaint of Ruvielane Margarito, identified as tribal chieftain of the Mabalacat Aeta Tribal Association (MATA), about an incident here last May 6.

Margarito alleged that officers of the CDC, the state-run firm that runs this freeport, “demolished their structure intended for hollow block (manufacturing) and where some of the Aeta tribal men were working.”

“During the course of the demolition, Roldan Aquino, an Aeta tribesman, was attacked and was forcibly shoved to the ground by four men, which caused panic, threat and fear among the tribal group,” Regino wrote Tugade.

A CDC official earlier had justified the attempt to relocate the Aetas’ factory, saying it was built on the Sacobia riverbed and was thus illegal, and that the location also endangered the lives of the tribal folk, especially during the rainy season.

Regino added: “Many, if not all of the Aeta tribal group, including women and minors, were subjected to various forms of threat, intimidation, harassment and physical injuries.”

“This office condemns such acts of violence against the vulnerable sectors in our society, the Aetas in this particular case who, by reason of their vulnerability, are exposed...,” she said in her letter.

“It is for this reason that the state must protect them from all forms of abuse to evenly balance their interest,” she added.

Meanwhile, Malacañang Presidential Action Center director Bobby Dumlao has asked NCIP director for ancestral domain Jonathan Adaci to “take appropriate action” on the complaint of Aeta leader Roberto Serrano, also of MATA, about a “vanished area” of their ancestral domain covered by Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title No. RO3-BAM-1204-025-A.

Margarito recalled that in 2006, the CDC asked Aetas living near the Clark freeport’s Gate 14 to vacate the area in exchange for a “disturbance fee.”

“What we know is that our ancestral domain there covered 121 hectares. But after some Aetas signed up for the disturbance fee which was also coupled with the condition for them never to return to the area, we were told that our ancestral lands there covered only two hectares,” she said.