ANGELES CITY- Two companies identified with the family of Pres. Aquino have surfaced recently to claim ownership of some 500 hectares of Hacienda Luisita where the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) has finished raffl ing off lands to farm worker beneficiaries under land reform.
The Alyansa ng mga Manggagawang Bukid sa Asyenda Luisita (Ambala) identified the two companies as the Tarlac Development Corp. (Tadeco) and Luisita Realty Corp. (LRC).
Ambala president Florida Sibayan noted that on April 8, 1958, Tadeco, then owned by the late Jose Cojuangco Sr. , became the new owner of Hacienda Luisita and its sugar mill Central Azucarera de Tarlac.
She said that on the other hand, LRC is one of the nine companies under the corporate wing of Jose Cojuangco & Sons (JCSO) whose operations centered principally in Hacienda Luisita.
The fi rm was founded in 1977 to develop the hacienda into “a wellplanned, self-sustaining, and ecologically-sound community that will prime the development of a new town.”
“During the raffle or tambiolo period, persons from Tadeco suddenly surfaced to claim 100 hectares of lands in Barangay Cutcut which adversely affected 89 farm workers and about 30 households. This area had been part of the ‘bungkalan’ farming system of the farm workers since 2005,” Ambala noted.
The group said Tadeco sent last Aug. 21, letters asking the farm workers to vacate within 15 days the 100 hectares. Sibayan said another 400 hectares in Barangay Balete are now being claimed by the Luisita REalty Corp. (LRC) and this area is also supposed to be subject to land reform.
“It is clear that the Cojuangco- Aquino family does not want the 4,915 hectares of hacienda lands to be distributed to their supposed beneficiaries,” Sibayan noted.
This report of alleged landgrabbing has prompted leaders of Ambala and other militant and religious groups, to form a team and start yesterday a two-day “national fact finding mission” in the hacienda.
Members of the team that include representatives from Caritas, visited yesterday Barangays Cutcut, Balete and Mapalacsiao within the hacienda in Tarlac City to also look into reports of land grabbing by Tadeco in the areas.
Sibayan said the mission also had representatives from the Unyon ng Manggagawa sa Agrikultura, Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas, Caritas, Zion Sisters, Karapatan-National, Anakpawis Partylist; Hacienda Luisita Peasant Support Network, Alyansa ng Magbubukid sa Gitnang Luzon (AMGL) and, Bayan-Central Luzon, among other groups.
“The tambiolo land reform, militarization and land grabbing by Tadeco violate our rights and conflict with the peaceful spirit of land reform,” Sibayan said.
“We stand by our declaration that the raffling of lands done by the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) na ‘palabunutan,’ the imposition to sign Application to Purchase and Farmers Undertaking as requirement for land awards, the distribution of Lot Allocation Certificate are unjust. Alongside the raffle, the hacienda also looked like a war zone with too many PNP, SWAT and military personnel spread all over, “ she noted.
In a statement, Ambala noted the continued presence of soldiers and security guards in Cutcut and Balete apart from the permanent detachments in Aqua, Balete , Pando and other barangays within the hacienda.
There have been continuing reports of harassment of farm workers, spying on their leaders and members of Ambala and other farm workers groups, it added.
