ABUCAY, Bataan — Aeta women in a mountain village in this town prefer to buy rice from the National Food Authority (NFA), even if they have to wait under the rain.
The Aetas (kulot), joined by lowlanders (unat), waited for the only accredited NFA rice retailer in Barangay Bankal here to sell them the staple on Tuesday.
The NFA store is run by Aeta natives from the Magbikin tribe. The natives are being assisted by lowlanders Val and Luisa Medina of the Bangkal United Methodist Church in supervising the store.
Zenaida Aquile, the 57-year-old Aeta manager of the store, said commercial rice in the village costs PHP50 to PHP55 per kg.
“Sa amin, PHP27 lang (For us, it only costs PHP27),” she said.
She said they get their allocation of 10 bags of rice twice a week from the NFA warehouse in Balanga City.
“Ang commercial rice, PHP50 to PHP55, kaya dito kami bumibili dahil PHP27 lang ang isang kilo (The cost of the commercial rice is PHP50 to PHP55 per kg. That’s why we are buying here because it only costs PHP27 a kg.),” a young Aeta woman, Mia Gulisan, said.
“Mura NFA rice, masarap, parang commercial rice. Walang bukbok (The NFA rice is cheap. Tastes good like commercial rice and free from weevil),” Gulisan added.
The Kulots and the Unats live in harmony in the mountain village, some 23 km. from the town proper of Abucay. (Ernie Esconde/PNA)
