LUISITA / TENSION HIGH IN FARM
[PHOTO - Red flag is
victory for farmers in Hacienda Luisita]
ANGELES CITY, FEBRUARY 23, 2012
(PHILSTAR) By Ding Cervantes – Security guards backed by troops
and policemen fired shots to scare off 300 farmers who prevented the fencing of
parts of Hacienda Luisita yesterday.
No one was reported hurt.
In a telephone interview, Felix Nacpil, Alyansa ng Manggagawang Magbubukid sa
Asyenda Luisita (Ambala) chairman, said that shots were fired by about 100
security guards, 10 policemen and 15 Army soldiers escorting workers tasked to
fence off an area being cultivated by farmers in Barangay Balete.
"More than 300 Ambala members blocked the putting up of fences, and the armed
escorts of the fence workers fired shots eight times to scare us off," he said.
"They thought we would be cowed by the gunfire. We had it when we were
massacred on Nov. 16, 2004. But we stayed put and continued to block the
fencing, it is a triumphant defense of our rights to land."
Nacpil said farmers have condemned the latest harassment by the
Cojuangco-Aquinos.
"We all know that this is another desperate act of the Cojuangco-Aquinos to
repress our struggle," he said.
"What else could they do after this? We could never forget the massacre in
2004 that killed seven of us and more than a hundred wounded.
"We expect worse than this in the future when Hacienda Luisita would finally
be distributed."
Joseph Canlas, Alyansa ng Magbubukid sa Gitnang Luson (AMGL)
chairman, said the incident is another attempt of the Cojuangco-Aquinos to use
government forces "under the command of President Aquino" to block the full
distribution of land in Hacienda Luisita.
"Aquino is lambasting Corona and at the same time neglecting the Supreme
Court decision for the 4,915-hectare agricultural lands to be distributed to the
farm worker-beneficiaries led by Ambala," he said.
"Ambala has been demanding the pull-out of military since then, but now
Aquino is employing government forces to threaten farm workers and repress their
struggle for genuine land reform."
AMGL and Ambala said Hacienda Luisita continues to be heavily militarized as
detachments are still set up in 10 barangays since 2005.
"The Aquino government is using the police and military as their private
armed group to protect their stake at Hacienda Luisita and repress the farm
workers' struggle for their rights to land," the groups said.
Rally tomorrow
Farmers of Hacienda Luisita will hold a rally at the Supreme Court
(SC) tomorrow to press the distribution of land at the Cojuangco-Aquino
controlled estate in Tarlac.
In a joint statement, Ambala and AMGL said the Cojuangco-Aquinos used public
funds to acquire Hacienda Luisita, and that they should have turned over the
estate to tenants in 1967.
Canlas said Aquino is passing the ball to the SC, offering Corona a way out
of the impeachment trial.
"By reversing the ruling on Luisita, (Corona) would then keep his post as
chief justice," he said.
AMGL and Ambala said the Cojuangco-Aquinos do not deserve compensation on the
lands, which they purchased on a conditional loan from the Government Service
Insurance System in 1957.
The loan provided that after 10 years, Hacienda Luisita should be turned over
to farmers as agrarian reform beneficiaries, the groups added.
Leaders of the two groups said Hacienda Luisita farm workers are gearing up
for a multi-sectoral protest tomorrow in front of the SC to demand the immediate
and free distribution of lands.
Aquino is again acting in defense of his family's vested interest in Hacienda
Luisita, now citing it as a pending case at the Supreme Court," they said.
Nacpil said everybody knows that the Cojuangcos used public funds to acquire
Hacienda Luisita.
"Even the youngest of their clan have benefited from our ancestors' sweat and
blood by cultivating sugar cane for almost half a century," he said.
Nacpil said the Cojuangco-Aquinos controlled Hacienda Luisita for 50 years.
"They clung to the lands though it should be distributed to the farmers as
early as 1967," he said.
"When Cory Aquino became president in 1986, she employed stock distribution
option (SDO) under CARP (Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program) to deceive us by
labeling us as stockholders. As SDO impoverished us, we went on strike in 2004,
but we were massacred."
"Everybody in the country knows the story of Hacienda Luisita, that is why
the Episcopal Commission on Social Action, Justice and Peace of the CBCP
(Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines) has expressed support to the
struggle," Nacpil said.
FROM MANILA STANDARD
Tensions high in Luisita as farmers storm outpost
TARLAC CITY — Around 300 bolo-wielding farmers and heavily armed security
guards manning the Hacienda Luisita could have clashed on Monday were it not for
the timely arrival of policemen who pacified them, a top police official here
said Tuesday.
The farmers belonging to two workers' unions stormed the security guards'
outpost and dismantled a fence preventing them from cultivating the farm in
Balete village, Tarlac City Police chief Supt. Arnel Ramos said.
He said the security guards fired their guns into the air to scare off the
farmers and stop them from rushing toward the area being claimed by Rizal
Commercial Banking Corp.
Tensions at the sugar estate have been increasing following the Supreme Court
decision ordering the hacienda's distribution to its tenant-farmers on Nov. 20
last year. The family of President Benigno Aquino III, which owns the estate,
has appealed the decision.
Ramos said the security guards present during the confrontation had been
invited for questioning.
"We are still investigating the case," he said.
"Some of our personnel are in the area to maintain order."
Felix Nacpil, chairman of one of the unions, said the gunshots came from the
ranks of about 100 security guards who were later augmented by 10 Tarlac
policemen and 15 soldiers.
He said the incident was part of the "continuing harassment moves" against
the farmers demanding the immediate distribution of the estate to them.
The area being fenced off in the estate is part of some 180 hectares turned
over by the Cojuangco-controlled Hacienda Luisita Inc. to RCBC as payment for a
loan. The area is said to be exempt from distribution. Jess Malabanan
Chief News Editor: Sol
Jose Vanzi
© Copyright, 2012 by PHILIPPINE HEADLINE
NEWS ONLINE
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