ANGELES CITY – Hacienda Luisita farmworkers vowed yesterday to literally close ranks to protect 23 of their comrades, after the Tarlac municipal trial court issued recently an order for their arrest on charges of grave coercion and illegal occupation of property.
“We will face this (arrest) warrant head on and rely on the united strength of the farmworkers. The Cojuangco-Aquinos and RCBC (Rizal Commercial and Banking Corp.) are playing with fire by using trumped-up charges to harass us. They will regret (this),” said Alyansa ng mga Magbubukid sa Asyenda Luisita (Ambala) chairman Felix Nacpil.
Joseph Canlas, chairman of the Alyansa ng Magbubukid ng Gitnang Luson (AMGL) said hacienda farmers were “fortifying their ranks for another struggle to defend their rights to land.”
Tarlac Municipal Judge Marvin Mangino issued the arrest order against the 23 farmers, led by United Luisita Workers Union (ULWU) President Lito Bais, for dismantling outposts and fences within a 184-hectare area of the hacienda within Barangay Balete last February.
The arrest order had yet to be served as of yesterday.
The complaint was filed by RCBC which has claimed ownership of the land after Luisita Industrial Park Corporation (Lipco), which was controlled by Pres. Aquino’s family, turned the property to the bank as loan payment in November, 2004, eight days after the so-called Hacienda Luisita massacre which killed seven farmers seeking land reform in the vast estate.
For several years now, hacienda farmers have been camping out in the area being claimed by RCBC and planted crops there.
Last Nov. 22, the Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision ordering the distribution of over 4,000 hectares of hacienda land to its farmworkers.
But the beneficiaries insisted that the turn over of 184 hectares to the RCBC should not be honored since the act was done even while the ownership of the hacienda was already then under question.
The Hacienda Luisita Inc., controlled by Pres. Aquino’s family, filed motions for reconsideration that has prevented the implementation of land distribution verdict.
In a joint statement, Ambala and AMGL warned “the Cojuangco-Aquinos and RCBC of massive protest once the arrest warrants against farmworkers’ leaders are served.”
“We denounce this criminal cases being pressed by RCBC against farmworkers and our supporters. We strongly believe that it was pure intimidation to undermine the struggling farmworkers of Hacienda Luisita”, Nacpil said.
Apart from Bais, the other respondents in the case included Martyr group spokesperson Pastor Gabby Sanchez, Arnold Ladera, Rizaldy Pasion, Rowena Galang, Richard Sosa, Jackelyn Galang, Celia Galang, Etang Cunan, Joji Pasion and others who were not immediately identified.
“The RCBCs effort to displace us started last year but we have remained firm in our stand that we are the legitimate owners of the said land,” Nacpil said, recalling that in October last year, combined elements from the police and the military failed to dismantle their camps in the area.
Nacpil noted that apart from the cases filed against Bais and 22 others, RCBC also filed another case of robbery against 20 other farmworkers who participated in the incident last Feb. 20.
“These farmworkers merely confiscated galvanized iron fences being put up by a construction team escorted by armed security guards, police and military in the land being claimed by RCBC,” he said.
He said “we know that the RCBC and the Cojuangco-Aquinos are powerful and influential to sway the court’s decision to demoralize and repress us. They have connived from the very beginning and we know that they won’t stop until they get the full control of Hacienda Luisita.”
Last March 6, Ambala leaders again followed up with the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) their January 5 petition for the revocation of the land conversion order on the 184-hectare land which was re-classified by the department as industrial in favor of RCBC.
The DAR scheduled an ocular inspection of the area on March 26.
