Justice for Hacienda Luisita martyrs

Ten years ago, seven farm-workers were struck dead and many were injured and wounded, when those wishing to quell legitimate dissent ordered their forces to open fire.  The striking workers of Hacienda Luisita were demanding just wages and land distribution from Hacienda Luisita, Incorporated.

This atrocity, a criminal act which occurred under the watch of former president Arroyo, was committed in broad daylight.  The Cojuangco-Aquino family, who has protected their control and assets by retaining majority ownership of the vast 4,915-hectare hacienda through a so-called "stock distribution option" rather than rightly implementing agrarian reform and distributing the lands to the farmers.  Their private army and state forces constituted the armed guards onsite at Hacienda Luisita on the day of the massacre, ten years ago.

Since this ominous event, the death toll has continued to rise and now stands at 15 people.  Both farm-workers and their supporters have been extra-judicially killed.  Testimonies from witnesses revealed direct involvement by the private army of the landed Aquino-Cojuangco family in these killings.

Amidst incriminating evidences, the complaint filed by the families of martyrs and other survivors of the Hacienda Luisita massacre was dismissed for lack of merit by the Office of the Ombudsman; this is an excruciating and deplorable blow to justice.  Seeking justice through the courts, once again, has proven both exhausting and frustrating.  No one has been made accountable.

We remain committed to the struggle of the Hacienda Luisita farm-workers in their pursuit of genuine land reform and justice.  For more than half a century, President Aquino's clan has been consistent in circumventing the law to their great advantage as well as sowing fear amongst their tenant-farmers and persecuting those who courageously protest their oppression.  

We stand in solidarity with the toiling Hacienda Luisita farm-workers, whose sweat and blood brought the land to fertility.  We denounce the deplorable state of unjust wages, landlessness, abject poverty and extreme hunger that is allowed to continue under the Aquino-Cojuangco clan.

We join our voices with the Hacienda Luisita farmers, as well as peasants all over the country in their quest for genuine land reform.  We look forward to a day of genuine peace for the tillers of the soil.

Rev. Marie Sol Villalon

Promotion of Church People's Response