WASTE SITE A portion of the Aeta Ambala ancestral domain in Sitio Tibag, Subic, Zambales, was temporarily used as a garbage disposal site during the COVID-19 pandemic with the tribe’s consent, according to Aeta leaders. The site has since been ordered closed and is now undergoing rehabilitation. —Joanna Rose Aglibot
SUBIC, ZAMBALES, Philippines — The National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) said it found no evidence that Aeta Ambala families were displaced by a temporary garbage disposal site established within their ancestral domain during the COVID-19 lockdowns.
In a memorandum issued on Monday, the NCIP Central Luzon office said it confirmed that the open dump is located within the Aeta Ambala’s 1,308.81-hectare certificate of ancestral domain title in Barangay Naugsol, home to 87 families, or 435 people.
The commission said there was “no basis to conclude that any community was forced to relocate because of the dump,” noting that the disposal area was established in a ravine that had not previously been occupied or used as a residential site.
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