Indigenous Responses to the COVID-19 Pandemic 59 and other minerals. Many of these fruits are not sold commercially in local markets as these only grow in their ancestral lands. Non-health support from the government According to the Ayta resource persons, the very first effort to mobilize resources to provide them non-medical/health assistance came from the graduate students of UP CSWCD’s MCD Program, who are their longtime partners in community development projects and initiatives. Despite pronouncements from the national government of sufficient and guaranteed ayuda (assistance) for communities under quarantine, it has proven to be elusive. Furthermore, there were firsthand experiences by some of the co-authors of this report encountering local officials withholding aid (such as rice). Apart from this issue, the delivery of aid was, in general, slow. In Barangay Camias, the assistance from the municipal government only came in mid-April 2020. But as the Aytas cynically expected, it came in the form of repacked rice and was distributed to the community members at a mere three kilograms for each household. No further information came as to when or whether more assistance would be sent. There were other forms of assistance that came from the government, albeit late. Social Amelioration Program The Department of Social Work and Development (DSWD) gave out forms for the Social Amelioration Program (SAP) for vulnerable families. In Katutubo Village, only 27 forms (out of 448 households) were allocated for the IP community. The tribal chieftain tried to negotiate with the barangay captain to at least provide for half of the IP families in the barangay, but to no avail. This meant that over 90 percent of IP families in Katutubo Village were left out of the longed-for promise of assistance by the national government. Program on communal farming In Barangay Camias, families were invited to join the Department of Agriculture (DA)’s program on communal farming. This initiative was welcomed as this was perceived as beneficial to the community. They were surprised, however, to be told that only 40 (out of 700) families qualified for the program. Thus, more than 90 percent of the Ayta families living in Camias were left out of the government’s assistance program. Additional support from DSWD In light of the many families that were left out in the two government programs mentioned above, the Ayta Mag-indi leaders were happy to hear that more assistance would come from DSWD. But this excitement soon died down when they received