Indigenous Responses to the COVID-19 Pandemic 57 niyo naman, nandito pa kami. Mayro’n pang Ayta. Kung hindi namin kayang labanan ang ganyang mga uri ng sakit, eh ‘di sana naubos na kami. Lalo na nung panahon na ‘yun, baka hindi pa nakakakita ng ospital ang mga ninuno namin. (We found out that there have been ten occasions of pandemic that became a worldwide problem since the time of the Spaniards. These include the Spanish flu, which according to what we read, was also a major health problem back then. But as you see, we are still here. The Ayta community continues to exist. If we were not able to resist such disease, then we would have vanished by now. Especially in those times, our ancestors have not probably seen a hospital in their entire lives.) Figure 3 Showing their ingenuity in the midst of the pandemic, the Ayta Mag-indi community in Porac, Pamanga made face masks out of banana blossoms, which are fitted to cover the face and made of water-resistant material, to augment the lack of face masks Photo by Marivic Capuno