FORTY OF 87 Aetas granted scholarship by the Clark Development Corp. in cooperation with the Angeles University Foundation recently graduated from their respective courses.
The report furthered that one of the finishers, Leonardo Ramos of Madapdap resettlement in Mabalacat City, earned a BS in Electronics and Communications Engineering degree, cumlaude. And even those who dropped out – having gained some college level education – have found gainful employment, most at the Clark Freeport, three have migrated to the US, and five now work as OFWs in the Middle East.
Graduations are always a cause for celebration. Moreso, when it is the marginalized sectors that make the grade. It is heartening to note that the CDC has remained steadfast in its corporate social responsibility toward the empowerment of the Aetas, Clark’s original owners, through education and consequent livelihood.
A celebratory piece I wrote here in May 2008 in recognition of the graduates among the first 40 Aeta scholars of the CDC-AUF: Affirmative action “…QUETA PU quecami, dacal lang Baluga, malati’t maragul, biyasa lang mamana.”
From that ditty of our bygone youth, the “Baluga” – old Capampangan for the indigenous Aetas – has figured much in our lore. In that instance, as master archers; in some others, as yokels out of their native woods.
Like in those brutally denigrating “Area jokes.” (For the uninitiated, “Area” refers to that enclave straddling Barangays Pampang and Sta. Teresita in Angeles City that has – since pre- WWII – catered to blue-collar sex.)
So there was this story of the Baluga who was experiencing hunger during a severe drought in his mountain village and went down to the plains to fi nd some food for his people. His wandering took him to the Area.
In one of the brothels, he chanced upon an open room where a couple were engaged in the tombalibanta position – that’s 69, for you, dummy. Quickly, he ran out and rushed back to his people warning them that the unat (the straighthaired, as distinguished from them, the kulot – the kinky haired) are in a graver situation of hunger: “Queng danup da, Cuyang, ila nang mipamangan.” (In their hunger, they eat each other.)
And then there was the other Baluga who, after selling his rootcrops at the Pampang Market, sought out the Area for some good time. Returning to his village, he called for a tribal council to report on the greatest sexual experience he has had: “Lima nang aldo, kaluluwalan ku pa, Apu.” The onset of STD he mistook for continuous ejaculation.
Cry political incorrectness there! Scream racism! Those derogatory tales though are nowhere near in disparagement to the cultural fixity of the unat on the kulot.
Prejudiced as lazy bones that live on dole outs; prejudged as naturally prone to sleep on full stomachs – casting away any activity in favor of dreamland, Aetas for too long have been deemed as truly deserving of their sorry state, as virtually second citizens in their own country, if not the forsaken children of a lesser god.
Their nomadic, food-gathering natural way of living, totally ignored. Their pre-eminent ownership of the land, completely forgotten. Thus, their exploitation. A celebration then – and a challenge too – is the rise to excellence of Aeta tribesmen and women.
Like the news of an Aeta scholar of the Clark Development Corporation (CDC) and the Angeles University Foundation (AUF) recently earning his bachelor’s degree with flying colors. Twenty-year old Augusto S. Laxamana, aside from his bachelor’s degree in Criminology, was awarded a citation for being the champion in the Annual Junior Law Enforcers Association Firing Competition held at the Regional Training School in Magalang, Pampanga.
Laxamana led eight other Aeta scholars who graduated this year: John Paul Galang, BS in Business Administration; Andrea Tiglao, BS Education; Natalie Lacson, BS Education; Louchelle Capiz, BS Education; Leslie Joy Estardo, BS Education; Elaine Diane Maria, BS Criminology; Mark Rein, BS Criminology; and Lyn Layug, BS Criminology.
The CDC-AUF Aeta Scholarship program, established in 2004 during the presidency of Dr. Emmanuel Y. Angeles at the CDC president, extends scholarships “to qualified and deserving beneficiaries living within the
Freeport contiguous communities.”
At least 40 scholars, majority of whom belong to indigenous tribes of Mabalacat, Pampanga and Bamban, Tarlac have benefi ted from the program. This is one affirmative action that the kulot must fully exploit to get out of the umbra of prejudice and discrimination and stand as tall and proud as the unat under the light of socioeconomic equity.
Black is beautiful, not only in America. Black power too. Carpe diem – Seize the day – is all that the Aetas need to do.
