Luisita farmers fear reversal of land distribution ruling

ANGELES CITY , Philippines  – Farmers of Hacienda Luisita in Tarlac expressed fear yesterday that the impeachment of Chief Justice Renato Corona could pave the way for the Supreme Court (SC) to reverse its decision last Nov. 22 to distribute the hacienda to farmer-beneficiaries.

The Alyansa ng Manggagawang Bukid sa Asyenda Luisita (Ambala) and the Alyansa ng mga Magbubukid sa Gitnang Luson (AMGL) claimed that the relatives of President Aquino, whose family owns the hacienda, “scolded” him for failing to prevent the SC decision favoring the farm workers.

Ambala chairman Felix Nacpil Jr. said his group is facilitating the land distribution at the hacienda.

Ambala and AMGL have started the consultation with farmers to consolidate their position on the motion for reconsideration filed in the SC by the Cojuangcos and Aquinos last Dec. 19.

Lawyers from Sentro para sa Tunay na Repormang Agraryo (SENTRA) are representing the farmers in the case.

“As our lawyers explained, the motion was no different from their (Cojuangco-Aquino party) oral arguments. They still want to offer ‘stocks’ to the farmers and keep control over the vast lands of the hacienda. They sound like a broken record and we are hopeful that the High Court would find nothing new in their argument and keep the essence of their Nov. 22 decision,” said Nacpil.

AMGL chair Joseph Canlas called on the SC to immediately junk the motion of the Cojuangcos and continue with the land distribution.

“We know that the Chief Justice is aware that he is being impeached mainly because of the Hacienda Luisita issue,” he said.

Canlas warned that a successful impeachment of Corona would “backfire” if Corona’s successor eventually reverses the Court’s verdict to distribute hacienda lands to the farmers.

“We all know that betrayal of public trust is a legal and moral basis for impeaching a president,” Canlas said.

Ambala and AMGL challenged Corona to “keep his footing on the decision favoring the farm workers and not succumb to political offensive launched by the Aquino government through his impeachment.”

Amabala and AMGL said that the Cojuangcos are again pushing for a referendum among the farmers in their bid to reimpose the stock distribution option (SDO) scheme, which gives the farmers shares of stock in Hacienda Luisita Inc. (HLI) instead of actual distribution of land to them.

The farmers said the Cojuangcos have also petitioned the court to lift the 10-year moratorium on selling portions of the hacienda and for the SC to refrain from using the minimum value of P1 million per hectare that was used in selling parts of the hacienda for the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEx) project.

Canlas said that the motion filed by the Cojuangcos indicated that the President’s family has no intention of giving up the hacienda.

Nacpil said 700 farmers attended a meeting last Jan. 3 at Barangay Balete as more farm workers are consulting Ambala on how to implement the bungkalan or land cultivation.

Ambala also filed last Jan. 5 a petition for cancellation of the order of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) that allowed the conversion from agricultural to industrial use of 500 hectares in the hacienda.

The land that was approved for conversion included the 184 hectares at Barangay Balete that was turned over to the Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) as loan payment.

“The conversion order is deemed void as there were no improvements for five years since 1996 in the area of RCBC, so we are demanding RCBC’s pullout from the hacienda,” Canlas said.