Luisita farmers face arson raps

CAMP OLIVAS, Pampanga, Philippines – Police are set to file in court arson charges against several farmers for allegedly setting fire to 300 hectares of sugarcane fields at the Hacienda Luisita in Tarlac that is owned by the family of President Aquino.

In a text message to The STAR, Tarlac City police chief Superintendent Arnel Ramos said he was waiting for a complainant to file the charges in his office yesterday.

Ramos said the farmers allegedly responsible for the burning of the sugarcane fields in Barangay Balete last Friday were invited for questioning last Monday.

He said that after the investigation, “we released them because no one filed a complaint against them.”

Ramos said the motive of the suspects in burning the plantation is to force the Hacienda Luisita Inc. (HLI) management to distribute the lands to the farmers, in accordance with the ruling of the Supreme Court.

Hacienda Luisita Independent Planters Association, Azucal Incorporated and other farmers from Sugarcane Farming Agricultural Corporation are currently renting the sugarcane plantation from HLI.

Police said that 30 farmers led by Balete councilmen Pual Mallari and Hilario Hipolito, Leonila Halili, Dominador Salian, all of Barangay Balete and Felix Nacpil, chairman of the Alyansang Magbubukid ng Asyenda Luisita (Ambala) were allegedly involved in the incident where P1-million worth of crops were destroyed.

But in a phone interview, Nacpil said he was not in the area when the incident happened.

Arson

Aside from Ambala, farmers’ groups Unyon ng Manggagawa sa Agrikultura (UMA) and the United Luisita Workers Union (ULWU) also vehemently denied yesterday accusations they had burned some 300 hectares of the Luisita sugarcane plantation last Dec. 16.

They instead accused the management of Hacienda Luisita of “arson of three parcels of land planted with sugarcane.”

They said the burning was done “so the family of President (Aquino) and the HLI management could put the blame on farm workers and legitimize the filing of criminal cases against leaders and other farm worker beneficiaries.”

UMA secretary general Rodel Mesa said the President’s family and officials of HLI are “definitely behind this well staged political drama to justify the reversal of the decision of the Supreme Court on Hacienda Luisita and the filing of trumped up charges against leaders and members of Ambala.”

The farmers even have their version of what reportedly happened last Dec. 16.

“On Dec. 16, at around 9: 30 a.m., while farm workers were busy harvesting sugarcane in Barangay Balete, members of the Tarlac

police and private security personnel of HLI came and told farm workers to stop their work for a while. While engaging the local police force and Luisita personnel in verbal debate, the farm workers suddenly noticed that three parcels of land planted with sugarcane were set on fire by unidentified men,” they said in their statement.

De Mesa also accused the HLI management of “sowing terror among farm worker beneficiaries to compel them to let go of their claims on the land and to the P1.33-billion share from the sale of Luisita lands.”

“Whether the HLI denies it or not, its motive and role in the burning incident last Dec.16 is undeniable,” said Mesa. – With Ding Cervantes