Aetas get their relief packs from NCIP. Contributed photo
BALANGA CITY — The National Commission on Indigenous Peoples extended relief assistance to two Aeta groups in Bataan, the Philippine Information Agency provincial office here reported Friday.
PIA provincial chief Mar Jay delas Alas said NCIP gave food assistance to the Ayta Ambala and Ayta Magbukun in coordination with the provincial government and the municipal governments where the Aetas reside.
He said that 1,223 Aeta households in the province benefitted from NCIP’s relief assistance aside from cooked meals as part of the Kusina sa Barangay of the provincial government under Gov. Albert Garcia.
NCIP regional director Ruben Bastero was thankful to the private sector and some individuals for assisting the commission in the distribution of sacks of rice, poultry products and other goods to the indigenous peoples, Delas Alas said.
He noted that while the natives were benefitting from relief goods, they continued to secure food resources through their tribal livelihood systems despite the health crisis by planting traditional farms with crops.
“The two Aeta communities are still utilizing and managing natural resources found in their ancestral domain to ensure food security and mitigate the effects of the pandemic,” Delas Alas said.
The Aetas gather honey that serves as their food and also source of livelihood, their gathering activity governed by the ritual of thanking and offering first to the spirit who care for the honey.
There are Aeta communities in almost all the towns of the province, most especially in Dinalupihan, Hermosa, Orani, Samal, Abucay, Orion, Limay, and Mariveles.
