Project: Aeta Resettlement and Rehabilitation in Subic, Zambales, Philippines

• Formal Education
  
  On July 26, 2004, the Education Department and the Foundation of our Lady of Peace forged an agreement that opened an accredited multi-grade level elementary school for 42 elementary Aeta children at the Resettlement Site Sacatihan -Aningway, Subic Zambales, with 2 full-time teachers assigned to the multi-grade level of education.

• Foreign and Local Student Visitors to the Aeta Resettlement
  
  Japanese students of the Sendai Shirayuri Gakuen Women's College Sendai, Miyagi-ken came for a field exposure on the Aeta Minority Resettlement Program to observe the Day Care and Elementary school program. They taught the children the art of oregami, played balloons and shared toys with the children. Ms. Masako Ohtake, outgoing International Field Coordinator for the Sendai Shirayuri Gakuen Women's College was in charge of the Japanese trip. A number of student groups from St. Gabriel Academy High School of St. Paul's Collage from Caloocan, camped for 2-3 days at the Resettlement site to learn more the Aeta culture. Aeta Community Elects its Tribal Council Officers for the SY 2004 – 2005. Now in its third year of governance, once again the members of the Aeta community at the Aeta Resettlement Site elected its new set of officers.
  
  
  
  
• Health Program: The Day Care and elementary children of the Aeta Resettlement Site have daily supplemental feeding supervised by Community Health Worker, Amorsola Atanacio, herself an Aeta.
  
  
  
  
• Livelihood Program: Some Aeta women learned the art of cloth dying. Shawls made by are source of income. The Foundation assists in marketing the product. Another supported livelihood activity is the multi-purpose mini-store in Phase V of the community. The Chieftain sells basic commodities such as rice, sugar, coffee, bread and a few canned goods. The neighbors patronize the store saving them having to go down the hill to buy their needs.
  
  
  
  Seminars conducted at the Resettlement Site: From April –December 2004
  
  
  
  People Empowerment and Development Assistance Foundation on Mango Rehabilitation Central Luzon Aeta Association Planning Seminar; Exposure of St. Paul of Chartres Novices to the Aeta Culture St. Paul students from Manila and Quezon City, Exposure on Community Life with the Aetas Psychology student from Far Easter University Students of Free-Port Institute of Science & Technology

Brief History:

The sheltered wharf of the Subic Bay area has always had a role as the bastion of strategic security for the foreign invading occupiers of the Philippines. In the 1800s, Subic's deep water, sheltered anchorage, strategic location and healthy environment were an ideal location for a naval base, with King Alfonso II issuing a Royal Decree declaring Subic Bay as "a naval port and the property appertaining thereto aside for naval purposes." The Spanish Naval Commission authorized the construction of an arsenal and a ship repair facility.

In the 1900s The US Navy selected Subic Bay as a repair and supply base site. Thereafter, Theodore Roosevelt designated Subic Bay and 70,000 hectares of its adjacent lands as an American military reservation. "If we are to exert the slightest influence in Western Asia…it is one of the highest importances that we have a naval station in Subic Bay," he said. As a naval station Subic provided support to the US Asiatic Fleet and were the largest US marine corps training facility in the world before WW1. When the US granted Philippine independence, an agreement was signed between the countries for a 99-year lease- free use of 16 military installations including the administration of Subic and Olongapo. A naval air station was constructed along with 8,000 feet runway which involved the flattening of 1,200 feet mountain, equivalent to the digging of the Panama Canal. During the Vietnam war, Subic was tasked with maintaining ships and providing supplies to sustain the fleet in the Western Pacific and also the premier rest and recreation destination in the Far East. During the Gulf War, Subic was the staging ground for Desert Shield and Desert Storm operations. When Mt. Pinatubo erupted, Subic Bay was buried under 18 inches ash falls.

Background, Geography:

Subic Bay Freeport (SBF) is located southwest of the Luzon Island in the Philippines. The harbor is sandwiched by the Zambales Mountain Range at the east and the Subic Bay at the west and opens up to the South China Sea. It is northwest of the Bataan Peninsula and southwest of the Zambales Province. SBF is 110 kilometers north of Manila. Manila Bay and the Bataan Peninsula separate SBF from Manila. The mountain ranges around the Subic Bay area and the deep natural harbor provide excellent and protected anchorage. In addition, these features make SBF naturally sheltered from typhoons as well as from the effects of the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo.

SBF is an engine for economic development in the region, a supplier of services and products for the Central Luzon Development Program, a regional growth area composed of the provinces of Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Tarlac, Pampanga, Bataan, and Zambales.

Climate:

Like the rest of the Philippines, the climate in SBF is tropical. There are two seasons - dry, from November to May and rainy, from June to October. The climate is without extremes. Average temperature is 80 degrees Farenheit or 26 degrees Celsius.

Population:

The population in Subic Bay Freeport is estimated at 3,000. Right next is Olongapo City with a population of approximately 194,260. The adjacent provinces, Bataan and Zambales, have populations of 557,660 and 433,542 respectively as of 1995. The region, encompassing the provinces of Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Tarlac, Pampanga, Bataan, and Zambales, has a combined population of 8.030 million as of May 1, 2001.

To save lives from the continuing mudflow of lahar in the succeeding months, the Foundation of Our Lady of Peace Mission, Inc., its founder and president, Sr. Eva Fidela Maamo, SPC, M.D. with friends, trekked the hills of Zambales to locate families of Aetas to have them settled.

Long Term Goals of the Resettlement

• Maintain the ecological balance of the area
• Optimize the productivity of the site towards sustainability
• Utilize the site as a model for resettlement of other cultural minority groups

Immediate Project Needs

• Operate sustainable income generating and allied activities
• Provide quality services to all patron, visitors and guests at program site
• Develop and enhance socio-cultural aspects of the lives of the Aeta settlers
• Develop institutional capabilities for effective implementation of program plans

On-site Rehabilitation Project Staff:

1 Area coordinator
1 Organizer
1 Agriculturist
1 Teacher
1 Program Officer
1 Nurse (taken over by a trained Aeta health worker)

Facilities available on-site

• Housing for 60 families
• Initial water system for home consumption was set up with the presence of spring in the vicinity
• A basketball court was set up with the support of the Mayor of Subic for community recreational and sports activity.
  

Ongoing Services on-site

• Feeding program
• Clinic services
• Spiritual and value formation programs

Progress in the Aeta Community

After thirteen years, a peaceful and productive site and an organized community of Aetas, composed of sixty families, are now settled in the area. The nomadic culture of the Aetas, however, did not warrant settling of other nomadic Aetas families. The program proceeded despite this factor.

Local Resources and Facilities for Community Living

The resettlement site is endowed with natural ecological resources – vegetation, forest trees, boulders, spring and falls – conducive to food production like upland rice planting, tilapia fish pond culture, and goat-raising. For community recreational and sports activities, a basketball court was set up with the support of the Mayor of Subic. There is a school for the Aeta children and a chapel for liturgical services.

Project Staff

The resettlement site has a staff comprised of: an area coordinator and organizer, an agriculturist, a teacher and program officer. The continuing practical health service includes food subsistence for Day Care children provided by a resident nurse, aided by an Aeta health worker trained to eventually take over the guidance and support duties of the Day Care Center.

In the summers 2001 and 2002 agricultural harvests were bountiful credited greatly with assistance of the project agriculturist. However sustaining the efficiency level of the agricultural operation is not yet a guarantee. Absence of related facilities and technical assistance, the resettlement program needs a careful study of sustainable economic activities balanced with socio-cultural and ecological development.

1. Supplemental Feeding Program

The children are recipients of the supplemental feeding program of the foundation. They are categorized as 1 - 7 yrs. old. The Day Care children ranging from 4 -6 yrs old go to school daily. They are also recipients of the feeding program.

2. Education

Schoolchildren and students from age 7 to 16 are provided with education in public and private schools with the aid of the foundation. More are wanting in education. A total of 23 students both elementary and high school attend the formal education. But there is need to expand and renovate the school building of the preschoolers in Sitio Gala. The building has been partially damaged by storms and termites which are prevalent to the area.

3. Livelihood

Through the years, the Aetas have had various livelihood activities such as planting of pineapples, bananas, gabi, ginger and vegetables.

Since their products are considered seasonal, the Aetas tend to their farms for their daily source of income or go to the forest to hunt their food and other food items which they sell in the market. They have been provided a space by the local government in the public market.

Other sources of income are being conceptualized by the foundation that would be more stable for the Aetas and provide sustainability for the different programs of the foundation. One such example is the eco-pilgrimage tourism project where a conference building will be constructed fro spiritual-value formation activities, retreats, and seminars. The Aetas are to be employed as cooks, housekeeper, receptionists, etc.

4. Environmental Concern

Tree planting in the 40-hectare site is a continuing activity of the foundation to preserve the ecological balance in Sitio Gala. The Aetas, together with the staff have planted narra, mahogany, and other fruit bearing trees such as jackfruit, mangoes, etc.

5. Water System

Since the area is blessed with springs, water for domestic chores of the Aetas has been tapped by the foundation.

With the need to expand the projects for sustainability, the water source has first to be improved. And we hope water can be extended from a bigger source of spring to irrigate the entire area and provide potable drinking water to the Aetas, the staff and its clients.