This story
was taken from Bulatlat, the Philippines's alternative weekly
newsmagazine (www.bulatlat.com, www.bulatlat.net, www.bulatlat.org).
Vol. V, No. 8, April 3-9, 2005
Home is where the heart
is. No volcano eruption, land grabbing, or mining operation can drive the Aetas
away from their home in Camias, Porac, 92 kms north of Manila.
Text and photos by Aubrey Sc Makilan Home is where the heart is. No volcano
eruption, land grabbing, or mining operation can drive the Aetas away from their
home in Camias, Porac, 92 kms north of Manila. The road to Camias is not
just bumpy – it feels like trudging on a desert in the first half of the travel.
Temperature turns to extremes by the presence of solid lahar that is formed from
the ash flows that spewed from Mt.
Pinatubo’s historic eruption 14 years ago.
Porac is not just home to
the Aetas. Just off the desert-like road, a wide sugarcane plantation occupies
nearly half of Barangay (village) Planas. Kabyawan (milling season)
starts from November and ends in February. With planting of sugarcane and other
crops seasonal, kasamas (farm workers) work as contractuals. Signs that you’re
approaching the Aeta communities are when you hear cheers of children. Neighbors
would gather under a tree and start the socialization, or simply rest together.
Because they live with
nature, Aetas are greatly familiar with their environment. They live a life of
their own up the mountains than in the plains. Before noon, fewer Aeta men
could be seen in their communities as many are busy farming in kaingin (swidden
farms) on the hills and mountains. They return home in less than 20 minutes to
take lunch with their families. For meals, the Aetas would
pick a young papaya fruit behind their house and cook it with dried fish broth.
Or they could just catch a hen roaming in their backyard or hunt a goat and wild
pig for special occasions. The peace-loving Aetas
sometimes trade their goods with cunning merchants. A merchant, for instance,
would price the Aetas’ sack of gabi for P30 in exchange for their plastic
of rice that costs P50. In the end, the Aetas would still have to pay the P20
balance. Children have their own share of chores.
At an early age, Aeta children are taught how to use the spear, bow and arrow
for hunting and for defense. Some just stay at home taking care of younger
siblings when their parents attend to their farms. But children are children.
Young Aetas could be seen playing piko, moro-moro or even
basketball. When these children grow
up, they would later be climbing up and down the mountains, to bring their
struggle to self-determination in every arena the situation may require them to
do so. Bulatlat © 2004 Bulatlat
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A Day in the Life of the Aetas: A Photo Essay
Bulatlat