Aquino asked to distribute Luisita land to tenants

MANILA, Philippines - President Aquino was asked yesterday to make good his campaign promise to distribute to tenants Hacienda Luisita, the vast estate controlled by his family.

In a privilege speech last night, House of Representatives Minority Leader Edcel Lagman said Mr. Aquino has all of a sudden become reticent in his off-the-cuff commentaries.

“He has found an expedient shield for an ominous silence,” he said.

Meanwhile, Akbayan Rep. Kaka Bag-ao said the stock distribution option (SDO)being espoused by Hacienda Luisita management is unconstitutional.

“A simple review of the constitutional provisions will show that the SDO scheme is unconstitutional,” he said.

“No amount of faithful compliance to the terms and conditions of any SDO agreement will remedy the fact that any such agreement is violative of the Constitution.”

Bag-ao said the Constitution states: “The State shall, by law, undertake an agrarian reform program founded on the right of farmers and regular farm workers who are landless, to own directly or collectively the lands they till or, in the case of other farm workers, to receive a just share of the fruits thereof. To this end, the State shall encourage and undertake the just distribution of all agricultural lands, subject to such priorities and reasonable retention limits as the Congress may prescribe, taking into account ecological, developmental, or equity considerations, and subject to the payment of just compensation.”