SUBIC BAY FREEPORT — A conservation project that will benefit the Magbukun Ayta tribesmen living within this Freeport will soon be implemented through the joint undertaking of Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) and non-government organization Subic Indigenous Peoples Assistance Group (SIPAG).
SBMA chairman and administrator Wilma Eisma on Monday said a formal agreement between SBMA and SIPAG was signed for the implementation of the project that would help protect and preserve Ayta environment and culture here.
SIPAG launched its Indigenous Communities Conservation Area (ICCA) project last December under the auspices of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).
The project will be implemented with the support of the local government unit of Morong, Bataan, and the Philippine Association for Intercultural Development (PAFID).
The project places the Magbukun Ayta tribe at the forefront of conservation efforts since they live in the conservation site, which forms a part of the Subic Bay Freeport Zone.
Eisma said the SBMA will give its all-out support to the project because it dovetails with the agency’s conservation and environment protection program.
“We have pledged our all-out support to this project because it strengthens our fundamental advocacy to protect the natural environment of the Subic Freeport,” she said.
“Of course, part of the effort goes to the conservation of the indigenous Ayta culture and we also support that,” she added.
As agreed upon, the SBMA allowed SIPAG to use a building at the Naval Magazine area in the Freeport for the establishment of the Ayta Cultural Skills Development and Livelihood Training Center.
Under the ICCA program, residents living within or nearby the conservation area are tasked to serve as protectors of the environment, while the local government unit takes the lead in implementing conservation and protection activities.
Project officials said that with the ICCA program, the continuation, revival or modification of traditional practices or even new initiatives may succeed in protecting and restoring natural resources and cultural values in the face of new threats or opportunities.
Eisma said the SBMA has been successful in implementing a similar program with the Ambala Ayta tribe at the Pastolan village in the town of Hermosa, which also forms part of the Subic Bay Freeport Zone.
The SBMA has recently been recognized for its Ambala development program by the London-based International Finance Magazine (IFM) for having the best social responsibility initiative.
Before this, the SBMA also initiated the so-called social-fencing concept at the Freeport to make residents of upland areas in the zone become part of the overall strategy to preserve Subic’s natural environment. (Ruben Veloria/PNA)
