Aeta Magbukun (Kanawan, Bataan)

The Ancestral Domain of the Aeta Magbukun in the Bataan National Park

Origins

In Morong, Bataan; civil reservation was established by the Philippine Government in the early 50s’ to “safeguard the rights of the Non-Christian tribes”. The “Lupang Lemon” Civil Reservation covered the traditional areas of the Aeta Magbukun. When it was declared this extended all the way to Bgy. Mabayo in the west and reached the upper fringes of the eastern portion of the Subic Bay Naval reserve. In the early 80s, refugees from war-torn Indochina set sail to escape the violence in the region creating a huge global humanitarian problem. In response, the Philippine Government offered the Aeta Reservation of Lupang Lemon as the site for a Refugee Processing Center. Without consultation and approval from the community, the Refugee Processing Center was constructed and the Aeta Community was forced to move eastward across Kanawan river to rebuild their lives.

In 1986, the Government issued an eviction order against the Aeta of Kanawan for “purposely violating the Revised Forestry Code of 1975 by illegally residing within the Bataan National Park without the consent and approval of the Government”. A year later,  with the help of a partner- NGO, the community members successfully appealed their case with the office of the President and the village of Kanawan was segregated from the coverage of the Bataan National park and was later issued a Certificate of Community Forest Stewardship Agreement by the then Bureau of Forest Development of the DENR.[2]

Currently, an application for a Certificate of Ancestral Domain title (CADT) has been formally filed with the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) covering an area of at least 12,000 (+-) hectares.[3]

Demographics and Geography

The village of Kanawan is located in Bgy. Binaritan which is situated at the foothills of Mt. Kaikurong and Mt. Natib in the Municipality of Morong in the Province of Bataan. Kanawan is the main settlement of the Aeta Magbukun in the Municipality. The Ancestral domain of the Aeta Magbukun in Kanawan has a total area of at least 34,000 hectares and extends to the Subic Bay National Park on the west and reaches the farther extents of Mt. Natib within the Bataan National Park.

The topography of the area is generally sloping to steep, reaching elevations up to 1,000 MASL with a vegetative cover generally characterized by the dominant presence of Dipterocarps and large swathes of Bamboo forests. Sitio Kanawan can be reached via the Morong gate of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority or via 45 minute ride by jeep through the concreted road system from the Municipal center of Morong.

The Aeta Magbukun of Bataan constitute one of the 5 main groups of Aeta tribes in Central Luzon and is the least known of all Aeta groups. A substantial number live in villages within and around extents of Mt. Natib and Mt. Kaikurong in the Bataan and Subic Bay National Parks including some areas within the remaining forest cover and watershed areas of Mariveles Mountain.[1]

The latest census of the Municipal Government of Morong put the estimated population of Sitio Kanawan at 167 Households. However, several Aeta families living in the deeper fringes of Mt. Natib and Kaikurong may not have been included in the conduct of the survey.

Traditional Resource Management Practices

Aeta Magbukun of Kanawan continue in a large part to depend on their access and relationship to the natural resources around their community and to their traditional beliefs and practices.   The Aeta tribes believe in a supreme being who rule over lesser spirits or deities. They worship Apo Namalyari, whom they regard as the creator, believed to inhabit the mountain top of Pinatubo in Zambales (Delica, "Preserving the Mountains"). There is no specific mention of other gods of the Aeta, but one source mentions that the four manifestations of the "great creator" who rules the world, Tigbalog, is the source of life and action; Lueve takes care of production and growth of goods; Amas moves people to pity, love, unity, and peace of heart; while Binangewan is responsible for change, sickness, and death. These spirits inhabit the balete tree [4]

The Aeta of Bataan who used to roam through the mountains are gradually finding themselves in settlements beside the mountains. The government has been reaching out to them, assigning them into settlement areas, providing schools and health centers near their communities. Community development is towards the mountains so we see lowlanders slowly making their residences up the mountain. There is an increasing blending of the kulot (Aeta) and with the unat (lowlanders)[5]

Non-traditional and western models of governance has made its way into the daily lives of the Aeta of Kanawan. As in many other Indigenous Communities, there is an elected Barangay Captain along with the Barangay Councilors who act within the ambit of the Local Government Code of the Philippines. An Indigenous Peoples Organization, the Pagkakaisa ng mg Aeta SA Kanawan is also in place with its own “Chairperson”. Moreover, the NCIP has also appointed a “Tribal Chieftain” who performs tasks that are defined by the community as well as the NCIP.

However, in spite of the proliferation of “elected” leaders, the Aeta of Kanawan, traditional roles of responsibility are still played by the elders who occupy a prominent role in the day-to-day lives of the community. These include the settlement of conflicts among community members, resolution of domestic problems among married couples. Other elders also play the role of “experts” who specialize in providing advice to community members in the conduct of critical socio-economic activities such as hunting, forest product gathering, planting, healing and marriage.[6]

Biodiversity and ecological significance

This IBA includes the forests that extend from Subic Bay National Park up the north-western slope of Mt Natib in Bataan National Park, the highest point at 1,253 m. These are one of the few remaining undisturbed forests in the Zambales biogeographic zone, and some of the few surviving forests on Luzon that face the South China Sea (those in the Sierra Madre to the northeast facing the Pacific Ocean are different in character). The lowlands around Subic Bay National Park are now predominantly agricultural land and human settlements. The lower slopes of the mountains are covered by grasslands and croplands and secondary growth. Old growth forest is mainly confined to the steep slopes and gullies at higher altitudes. Lowland dipterocarp forest is found at c.100-900 m and montane forest above about 900 m. Between 3,000 to 5,000 ha of primary lowland dipterocarp forest is estimated to remain in the watershed, although much of this was damaged by the Mt Pinatubo eruption in 1992. Much of this forest was formerly included in the Subic Military Reservation, which was under US Navy control until 1993 when it was turned over to the Philippine Government and became Subic Bay National Park. The portion of the Subic Military Reservation under the control of the US navy was well protected, but the lowland forests here are of great commercial value and the land is under considerable pressure from a variety of economic developments. Under a new administration, the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority, there was a boom of new industries within the reservation. The former military base has been transformed into a center for trade and industry. [7]

The forests of this IBA are a vital watershed for the communities living around the park. They are the home of indigenous communities of the Aeta Magbukun, consider the Mt. Natib as their Ancestral Domains.

Several of the threatened and restricted-range birds of the Luzon Endemic Bird Area have recently been recorded in this IBA, and the relatively extensive forests which remain there support important populations of several of these species, notably Green Racquet-tail. One of the largest recent counts of Philippine Duck was in Subic Bay.

Non-bird biodiversity: The northern Luzon giant cloud rat Phloeomys pallidus, golden-crowned flying fox Acerodon jubatus, Philippine brown deer Cervus mariannus and Philippine warty pig Sus philippensis are known to occur in the area, but surveys of the mammals and herpetofauna of the area are incomplete.[8]

• [1] http://pehfphilippines.com/projects_research.html
• [2] PAFID Field Report 1988
• [3] The CADT Application of the Aeta Community was approved on May 2018
• [4] Wee 1994:29
• [5]  Preciosa Caronongan 2008
• [6] Interview with Tatay Aquino, 1997
• [7] BirdLife International (2015) Important Bird Areas factsheet: Bataan Natural Park and Subic Bay Forest Reserve. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 27/04/2015
• [8] BirdLife International (2015) Important Bird Areas factsheet: Bataan Natural Park and Subic Bay Forest Reserve. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 27/04/2015
• [9] BirdLife International (2015) Important Bird Areas factsheet: Bataan Natural Park and Subic Bay Forest Reserve. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 27/04/2015