PROVINCIAL CAPITOL, Bataan – Indigenous People Mandatory Representative (IPMR) Danilo Salonga expressed optimism for the approval and awarding of the Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title (CADT) of 21,600 hectares of ancestral lands in Bataan.
Board Member Salonga said that the Memorandum of Agreement for the awarding of the said CADT, to be signed between him and Gov. Abet Garcia has been readied and will be approved anytime. The CADT will benefit around 8,000 members of the minorities composed of 18 Aeta tribal communities located in the mountain ranges of the province.
According to Salonga, the pertinent documents on the delineation and titling procedures of the cultural minorities’ ancestral lands were already forwarded to the National Commission on Indigenous People (NCIP).
Salonga recalled that then Bataan Governor Enrique T. Garcia,Jr., had granted P 10 million for the titling of these ancestral land and livelihood projects of the tribal communities as part of his ardent aspiration to upgrade the socio-economic status of the cultural minorities.