CLARK FREEPORT – Forty members of the Aeta cultural minority folk in Central Luzon have been able to obtain
diplomas for bachelor’s degrees under scholarships, including one graduating cum laude from an engineering
communications course.
Clark Development Corp. (CDC) external affairs chief Sonny Lopez said the total of 87 Aetas included all the minority folk who had qualified for scholarships established by the CDC and the Angeles University Foundation
(AUF) in nearby Angeles City since way back in 2001.
Aetas are cultural minority folk who have remained marginalized and largely uneducated not only in Central Luzon, but also in other parts of the country. Lopez noted that Aeta Leonardo Ramos of Madapdap resettlement in Mabalacat City, graduated cum laude from a Bachelor of Science in Electronics and Communications Engineering (BSECE) course and is now employed at the American-owned semiconductor firm Texas Instrument inside this freeport zone.
Although 43 of the 87 Aetas dropped out, many of them have also been employed in this freeport. At least three had migrated to the US, while five found work in the Middle East. Lopez also reported that four more Aeta scholars are expected to graduate this school year.
He named the Aetas as Joel Billar and Roseanne David who are expected to earn their BS Elementary Education degree, Arriane dela Cruz who is taking up BS Accountancy, and Aris Gambao who is taking up BS Criminology.
The funds for the Aeta scholarship program are from the CDC and AUF, and covers expenses for tuition, miscellaneous, an laboratory fees, as well as uniform, among others needs. “The scholarship program is part of the corporate social responsibility of the state-owned firm for the indigenous people within the contiguous area of the freeport zone, “ Lopez added.
