REMEMBERING. An elderly woman lights candles in front of the main sugarmill of the Hacienda Luisita in Tarlac where farmers on Wednesday staged rallies and prayer vigils demanding the immediate and free distribution of the some 6,000-hectare farmland owned by the family of President Aquino. Photo by Ric Gonzales
TARLAC CITY – The Alyansa ng mga Magbubukid sa Gitnang Luzon (AMGL) and other farmer groups on Wednesday staged a rally at the Aquino-owned Hacienda Luisita demanding immediate and free distribution of some 6,000-hectare land in Tarlac province.
The AMGL, other farmers and progressive groups held a rally on November 16, 2004 as they commemorated the killing of striking sugar plantation workers seven years ago. At least 14 people, including two children, were killed while some 200 others were wounded when more than 1,000 policemen and soldiers stormed a blockade of at least 6,000 striking plantation workers and their families.
The rally joined by Alyansa ng Manggagawang Bukid sa Asyenda Luisita (AMBALA), Anakpawis Partylist and Bayan Muna was generally peaceful.
Nuns and students spoke in front of striking groups asking the family of President Aquino to honor the previous agreement compelling the elder Aquino-Conjuangco clan members to return the vast land to farmers.
“It is just and long overdue that the Hacienda Luisita lands should be distributed to the farm workers. They are the ones who developed, transformed it to productive prime lands, sacrificed and died for the protection of their rights to (own) land,” said AMGL chairperson Joseph Canlas.
In a statement, the farmers’ groups said that “as the Cojuangcos exploited the farm workers for almost half a century, it is morally and historically correct that lands should be distributed to farm workers at present.”
They added that “the Cojuangcos have no argument strengthening their claim but could only sustain their exploitive existence through deceptive schemes such as the stock distribution potion (SDO).
The AMGL also assailed the Aquino-Cojuangco family for negotiating with the Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) in connection with pieces of land in Barangay Balete at the Hacienda Luisita. The Makati City-based bank is claiming lands through transaction with the Cojuangco-controlled Luisita Industrial Park Co. (LIPCO).
“RCBC has no legitimate claim of the lands as history has proven that the Cojuangcos did not legitimately own Hacienda Luisita. They should hold the Cojuangcos accountable as this landlord family consciously offered lands that are under clear agrarian reform dispute,” said Canlas.
