Robin pushes probe into row over fund for Aetas in CL
SENATOR Robinhood “Robin” C. Padilla is seeking an investigation into the row that has prevented the Aetas in the Clark Sub-Zone in Central Luzon from getting some P19 million in funds stemming from an agreement signed in 2007.
Padilla filed Senate Resolution 149 to investigate the Joint Management Agreement (JMA) of the Clark Development Corp. (CDC), National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) and Tribong Ayta on Dec. 6, 2007.
“Fourteen years since the signing of the JMA, the Tribong Ayta are yet to receive their full share of the 20% of the net income arising from rentals and use of the ancestral domain as reported by the Aytas of Sitio Haduan, Mabalacat, Pampanga, during an audience on 2 August 2022 with the Office of Senator Robinhood Padilla in Pasay City,” Padilla said in his resolution.
The resolution mandates the Senate Committee on Cultural Communities and Muslim Affairs, which Padilla chairs, to conduct the probe.
According to Padilla, the issue prompted him to go to Pampanga to meet anew with the Aetas and the CDC on Aug. 4.
CDC President Manuel Gaerlan said they could not give the Aetas the 20 percent share as there are three groups claiming to represent them – the BATA, MATA, and STA.
Pending the resolution of the issue, the CDC placed the funds – amounting to P19.203 million as of Oct. 31, 2019 – in a trust fund in the Land Bank of the Philippines.
In his resolution, Padilla wants the investigation to ensure the rights of the Aetas and to look into the implementation of the JMA, as well as the role of the NCIP.
