Solons probe eco zone in Aurora By Gerry Baldo 01/22/2011

Solons probe eco zone in Aurora

By Gerry Baldo 01/22/2011
Lawmakers last Wednesday had initiated a probe into the establishment of an economic zone in the province of Aurora on the ground that the development of the area into an economic zone would displace the Agtas and the Dumagats who have been living there for centuries.

According to Rep. Kaka Bag-ao, Akbayan Party-list, the Agtas and the Dumagats, who have been pushing for the recognition of their ancestral domain under the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act (IPRA), are “facing uncertainties” with the establishment of the Aurora Pacific Economic Zone and Freeport or APECO within the territory of Casiguran, Aurora.

“These are not unfounded fears and apprehensions. The threat of losing the land, sea and ancestral domain is very real for the people affected by the establishment of the ecozone. By conducting this congressional inquiry both committees of the House of Representatives are providing them with a venue to air their grievances and articulate the issues and problems that they are facing and hopefully find redress,” Bag-ao said in a privilege speech last Wednesday..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/nation/20110122nat3.html