The poor wins over the rich in Luisita

In what I would call an earth shaking decision of national consequence, the Supreme Court, in an en banc 14-0 decision in Baguio City, ruled to have the 5,000 hectare Hacienda Luisita, held by the Cojuangco family since 1957, to distribute the land to its more than 6,200 farmer beneficiaries. I say that this is of national consequence because although this land is so far away from us in Cebu and the rest of the Visayas and Mindanao, the trouble it has generated has affected the entire nation.

To sweeten this deal for the farmers, the High Court, in an 8-6 vote, agreed to a just compensation for the Cojuangco sugar estate to be pegged at the 1989 valuation at P40,000 per hectare. Calculating the land value, the Cojuangco family will get P196 million for this property. Already I’ve heard the pro-PNoy radio commentators and other pundits crying out that this was not a just compensation, insisting that the Cojuangco family should have been given the P10 billion that they were demanding.

It is common knowledge that all this is linked to the Senate impeachment trial of Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona. Since the SC was unanimous in agreeing that the sugar estate of the Cojuangcos should be distributed to the farmer beneficiaries, therefore the only remaining argument is whether or not the valuation pegged at 1989 valuation was just compensation or not? If you ask me… it was even unjust for the farmers.

To answer this question, we should go back to how the Cojuangcos acquired this property in the first place. Never mind the lurid details, which you can read from Cecilio Arillo’s book “Greed and Betrayal.” I will just go into the timeline for brevity. The 5,000 hectare property was bestowed to the Cojuangco family from the Tabacalera by the late Pres. Ramon Magsaysay, Jr. in 1957 (yes just a couple of months before he crashed in Cebu) on the condition that after 10 years, the land should be turned over to the farmers who are tilling the land.

To acquire the land, the Cojuangcos got a loan from the Manufacturers Trust Bank in the US, who asked that the Central Bank guaranteed the loan with real cash. Ten years later, by 1967, Sen. Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino, Jr. was already a senator and the Cojuangco family refused to give up the property to the farmers. Hence the Philippine government filed a case, and you already know we have a snail’s paced justice in this country.

Historic events intervened. Martial Law was declared, Ninoy was arrested and the lower courts finally decided against the Cojuangcos. But then the EDSA Revolt came and when Ninoy’s widow, Tita Cory, became President and she had the Stock Distribution Option (SDO) approved by her government, which in my book was graft as the President was a party of interest in that deal. Hence this was struck down by the Supreme Court and last Tuesday, the high court made this decision with finality.

So back to the question, was using the 1989 land valuation just compensation? I think not! The Cojuangco family should have only gotten the land valuation of 1967 when they were supposed to relinquish the property to the farmers. But they used our snail-paced justice system to their advantage and even use political allies to further their cause.

Thankfully, the Supreme Court favored the farmer/beneficiaries and you can say that this is one time in Philippine history where the poor won over the rich! Call it a pyrrhic victory, but a victory nonetheless. The Hacienda Luisita case reveals the reality that the rich and powerful class in this country will always undermine the needs of the poor people, many of whom do not realize that they are always at the disadvantage against the rich and well-connected landowners who more often than not become their own political warlords because they just don’t know that they are being had.

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THE BLACKBOX:

Yesterday, we attended a presscon for the opening of the up and coming Sprockets Café along Apitong, St. right behind the old Osmeña residence in Escario St. Sprockets Café was name after the sprocket inside the old film camera that advances the film inside, not the sprocket on your bike. It is the brainchild of Rachel Arandilla, the eldest daughter of my good friend, Mr. Noel Arandilla of the International Marketing Group (IMG), the parent company of MyTV channel. Rachel envisions her Sprockets Café to be a creative hub for artists and photographers, writers and imaginative young professionals (Yuppies) as her décor reveals her creativity. But more importantly, her European menu is well-priced and a great culinary experience.

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