Skywatch#49 On Our Way to Mt. Pinatubo

The roads to Mt. Pinatubo were not only very dusty and hot but also dangerous. Roads or some sort of roads were entirely covered by thick layers of ash. It was easy to get lost out there and local guides really helped a lot.  The lahar landscape was beautiful and at the same time, surreal.

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Skywatch#32 Mt. Pinatubo: Lahar Pastureland

As we rode our 4x4 vehicle going Mt. Pinatubo under blue skies with scattered fluffy clouds, we passed by not only the lahar-covered lands of Tarlac but surprisingly, a small patch of pastureland where cows can be seen scattered around.

For more than a decade, lahar ruled supreme all over the then part of the rice basket of the Philippines. Hectares and hectares of ricefields, forests, rivers, streams and communities were inundated by lahar during and after the 1991 Mt. Pinatubo eruption. Slowly though, the land is healing.

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My World#70 The Aetas of Mt. Pinatubo

I saw them walking on the vast emptiness of the now lahar-covered agricultural lands on the way to Mt. Pinatubo. They looked pitiful, scruffy, thirsty and hungry while they wander in groups to hunt and gather food. I asked our driver if we should stop and offer them a ride or something but I was told that they would ask help if they want to, when they want to. I was surprised with the driver's answer but I decided to let it go and just waved at them.

We passed by two Aeta villages along the way and saw these Aeta kids. They smiled  while I took their pictures as our 4x4 vehicle slowed down near their vilage.

Who are the Aetas? (Source: http://litera1no4.tripod.com/pinatuboaeta_frame.html, wikipedia)

Aetas are small, dark skinned, and kinky haired people with big round eyes who occupy the forest areas of Mt. Pinatubo. The Pinatubo Aeta are part of bands residing in mountanous , forested ares of the archipelago from Luzon to Mindanao. They are believed to be the descendants of the original inhabitants of the Philippines.

An interesting aspect of the Pinatubo Aeta is their continuing resistance to the acculturation process, and their ability to modify whatever they borrow from the outside to suit their own culture. They assimilate only the cultural elements compatible with their social reality -- like some of the Sambal's techniques and rituals in agriculture, concepts of spirits, curing and burial rituals.

Before the Mt. Pinatubo explosion, the Aetas are an indigenous group of people that lived on the slopes of Mt. Pinatubo and its surrounding areas for centuries. They escaped the persecution of the Spanish during the Spanish regime by staying on the highlands. A hunter-gatherer people who were extremely successful in surviving in the dense jungles of the area, they also grew some staple crops such as wheat, barley, and rice.

After Mt. Pinatubo’s explosion, the Aetas were displaced from their ancestral lands and were further marginalized. While they received government and foreign aid assistance, these have not been sufficient and consistent enough to help sustain the Aetas and also, to prevent them from pursuing their nomadic lifestyle. Thus, a lot of them are uneducated and are suffering from extreme poverty.



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Skywatch#31 Mt. Pinatubo

The 1991 eruption of Mt. Pinatubo was felt worldwide. It contributed a lot in cooling down the earth's temperature as what the scientists said but it also erased a lot of communities from the map.

Nowadays, Mt. Pinatubo and its crater draw a lot of tourists from all over the world. The shortened hiking trail contributed to the influx of visitors and people of all ages can actually this crater.

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