No individual shall be evicted in areas under the Aurora Pacific Economic Zone and Freeport Authority (APECO).
This was the assurance made by Gil Taway IV, APECO president and chief executive officer, to various tribes of indigenous peoples (IPs) in Aurora.
Taway in dialogues with IP leaders have dispelled disinformation that the 17 tribes residing in the area will be evicted to give way to government ownership.
“APECO shall not take, encroach, nor claim ownership of the ancestral lands of IPs,” Taway said during his State of APECO Address held last October 11.
Since assuming leadership at APECO in October 2023, Taway has rolled out partnerships with the IP communities and further integrated their cultural heritage with the current plans for development.
Taway has expressed APECO’s full support for IPs application for a Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title (CADT).
APECO has created a special unit and tapped the Integrated Bar of the Philippines to guide IPs in obtaining CADTs
APECO also prioritizes IPs in employment like the Bantay Dagat where it has employed 100.
For its P1.2-billion bamboo project, APECO tapped the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority to train and upskill the IP communities in the processing of bamboo.
