By Perfecto T Raymundo, Jr.
CAPAS, Tarlac — The Pinoy Ako (Pinoy para sa Adhikain ng Katutubo at Obrero) Party List on Saturday (Nov. 16) conducted a medical mission for some 300 Aetas or Indigenous People here in Barangay Bueno.
Most of the natives in the area are Kabalen or Kapampangan-speaking Indigenous People (IP).
Atty. Gil A. Valera, the third nominee of Pinoy Ako Party List, brought cheers to the IPs as he carries a baby IP in his arms.
The IPRA (Indigenous People’s Reform Act) Law is mandatorily implemented in the area such that the IPs have a representative both in the Barangay Council and the Municipal Council earning a monthly income of about PHP60,000.
The IPs signed in the attendance form as they are able to read and write as they are already educated while their ancestors inhabited the mountains in the past.
Those who could not write were assisted by their fellow IPs who can write themselves.
The IPs were provided with free medical checkup, “ayuda” or foodpacks with 5 kilos of rice, medical kits and they can avail of free legal consultation with just a text away.
The IPs in the medical mission came all the way from Sitio Hot Spring consisting of 150 families with an average of four children per family.
The IPs from 100 houses walked down the mountains for an hour to reach the covered court of Barangay Bueno to avail of the medical mission.
Dr. Sharina M. Samonte was one of the four physicians who provided the free medical checkup and consultation.
Valera told the IPs that the Pinoy Ako Party List is ready to serve them and urged them to also inform their families and relatives to join them in the medical mission.
There were free medicines and medical checkup with four doctors where senior citizens, women and children were prioritized to be served.
Nanay Francisca and Ate Ina were the first beneficiaries of the medical mission.
Some of the IP children approached Atty. Varela and saw a friend in him.
In an interview, Atty. Valera said that once elected in the May 12, 2025 national elections, Pinoy Ako Party List will make sure that the IPs in the community will have a guaranteed 20 percent share from 3 percent share in the extraction of mineral resources in the mountains as provided for in Section 57 of the IPRA Law.
Valera said that the IPRA Law stipulates that the IPs have the right to extract mineral resources in their “ancestral domain” not just with the use of “piko”, but the Pinoy Ako Party List will see to it that the IPs will be provided with modern equipment for mineral extraction.
Known as “Datu Tagaoagtanggol”, Valera has been fighting for the rights of the “Katutubos” for the longest time.
He cited that they chose Capas for the medical mission because it’s historical where brave Filipino soldiers died in the “Death March” from Bataan to Capas, Tarlac.
Valera added that there are about 11,000 Aeta IPs in Capas, hence, they took it upon themselves to conduct the medical mission here.
He said that the IPs in Capas, Tarlac will also benefit from foreign and domestic tourism once their Hot Spring, the Mt. Pinatubo and the Lake therein will be fully accessible for tourists.
Valera stressed that it would normally take three years to secure the CADT (Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title), however, it takes about more than three years now for such a CADT.
He noted though that some CADTs even fall in the hands of “landgrabbers”, which for him, will have no place to exist, with the proposed legislative measure of Pinoy Ako Party List that will provide strict implementation of and severe punitive measures for violators of the IPRA Law.
Municipal Councilor Victor Valantin, 40, two-term Councilor of Capas, Tarlac, expressed his profound gratitude for the medical mission extended by Pinoy Ako Party List led by its third nominee Atty. Gil Valera.
Valantin is an Aeta himself and saw the first light in Capas, Tarlac.
