Friday, May 09, 2008 Laus welcomes House probe on Aetas-CDC pact By Reynaldo G. Navales
CLARK FREEPORT -- Clark Development Corporation (CDC) president Levy Laus said he welcomed a proposed investigation into the Joint Management Agreement (JMA) between the state-owned firm and the Aeta tribes inside the former American military base.
"I welcome this initiative because this will give us the timely opportunity to clear the air of any reservation or misinformation about the agreement and provide valuable inputs as well to our legislators that could be useful in their legislative agenda for the country's indigenous people," he said.
Laus' statement came on the heels of a resolution filed by Pampanga Representative Carmelo Lazatin seeking an investigation into the JMA signed among CDC, the Tribung Ayta and the National Commission on Indigenous peoples (NCIP) last December 6.
"The House investigation should be able to bring in proper and correct perspective the agreement and should disabuse any lingering or emerging misconception that the Aetas have not been given a fair deal in this regard," Laus said.
In the agreement, the CDC will manage the development of about 10,684 hectares of Aeta ancestral lands for a period of 50 years under a profit-sharing scheme whereby the Aetas get 20 percent while the CDC gets 80 of the profit.
In House Resolution (HR) 545, Lazatin claimed that the guaranteed income stipulated in the agreement, which was computed at P1 million per year for the whole area, was unfair to the Tribung Ayta.
Tribung Ayta is composed of 13 tribes or about 3,000 families from the towns of Bamban, Tarlac and Mabalacat, Pampanga.
The CDC president described the agreement as a breakthrough in the long-standing negotiation between the government through the CDC and the Aetas for the development of vast idle lands whose potential could be maximized for the benefit of the Aetas and Clark and the surrounding communities in Pampanga and Tarlac.
"We look at this agreement as the beginning of a brighter future for our Aeta brothers in terms of a better economic environment and livelihood opportunities," Laus said.
Earlier, the CDC turned over 13 special utility vehicles to each of the tribes for their various transport requirements, particularly in moving products and peoples from the uplands to the lowlands.
Laus said the turnover was consistent with the spirit of the agreement that seeks essentially to improve the lives of the Aetas in the Clark hinterlands.
