Luisita farmers file raps vs Noy uncle, sister

MANILA, Philippines - A group of farmworker-beneficiaries yesterday filed a string of criminal charges against an uncle and a sister of President Aquino over alleged atrocities committed in the distribution of the family-owned 4,915.75-hectare sugar land estate in Tarlac.

A total of 41 of the over 6,000 farmers trooped to the Department of Justice (DOJ) in Manila to seek the indictment of presidential uncle and former Tarlac congressman Jose “Peping” Cojuangco Jr. and sister Maria Elena “Ballsy” Aquino-Cruz for attempted murder, arson, child abuse, physical injuries, illegal arrest and arbitrary detention, theft, robbery and malicious mischief.

Also charged in the individual complaints were board members of the Tarlac Development Corp., former Land Transportation Office chief Virginia Torres, Tarlac-Philippine National Police provincial director Alex Sintin and former Tarlac City police chief Bayani Razalan.

The complainants who belong to the Alyansa ng mga Mangagawang Bukid sa Hacienda Luisita (AMBALA) were assisted by lawyers from the Sentro para sa Tunay na Repormang Agraryo, National Union of People’s Lawyers, Public Interest Law Center and the Pro-Labor Legal Assistance Center.

They alleged the respondents were behind the bulldozing of crops, demolition of huts, maltreatment and illegal arrests by police against them.

“The public must be made aware that the worst atrocities are being committed by no less than the presidential family against hapless farmers despite – or as cruel retribution for – the Supreme Court ruling (in November 2011) for total land distribution in Hacienda Luisita,” AMBALA lawyer Jobert Pahilga said.

The complainants said they held a dialogue with DOJ Undersecretary Francisco Baraan last January and he promised to create a special panel to look into their claims of atrocities happening in Hacienda Luisita.

But they lamented Baraan has yet to fulfill his promise.

“With the local courts in Tarlac City, harassment suits lodged by the Cojuangcos are piling up against us farmers. Meanwhile, we still wait in vain for the DOJ to act on out legitimate complaints,” AMBALA chairperson Florida Sibayan said.

Sibayan also dared the DOJ to investigate Torres, a known ally of Aquino, who is reportedly leasing lands from some beneficiaries who have received copies of titles to lots in Hacienda Luisita in Tarlac but have yet to be cleared by the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR).