ANGELES CITY- The Alyansa ng mga Magbubukid sa Gitnang Luson (AMGL) “strongly condemned” yesterday” intensified assault” against its chapter Alyansa ng Manggagawang Bukid sa Asyenda Luisita (Ambala) whose leader Dennis de la Cruz was killed on the eve of last All Saints’ Day.
AMGL Chairman Joseph Canlas said Dela Cruz was one of Ambala’s leaders who pushed for the continuing cultivation of land being claimed by the Cojuangco family as being outside the scope of land reform in the hacienda where the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) completed recently land distribution to farm workers via raffle.
De la Cruz was shot dead by still unknown assailants in Barangay Balete within the hacienda last Oct. 31. AMGL said despite the distribution of lands, the Cojuangco family, through the Tarlac Development Corp. (Tadeco) and the Luisita Realty Corp. (LRC), has been allegedly harassing Ambala leaders who have insisted that 140 hectares of exempted lands in the hacienda should have been covered by land reform.
The farmworkers had cultivated these areas under their so-called “bungkalan” system. Canlas said the two firms have already put up fences around these exempted properties including 100 hectares in Barangay Cutcut and another 400 hectares in Barangay Balete.
“Hacienda Luisita is under a reign of terror, perpetrated by the Aquino government and the Cojuangco-Aquino family. They have sabotaged the Supreme Court decision to distribute the lands using the partial schemes implemented by DAR, and now a leader of Ambala was mercilessly killed,” Canlas said.
Canlas charged “the murder of Dela Cruz is connected to the land issue as he was a staunch activist working with the bungkalan campaign, and was threatened by Tadeco security guards last September.”
Ambala has also refused to recognize the raffle system used by DAR to distribute lands. This, even as Ambala reported that military deployment in Hacienda Luisita has intensified, with at least four tanks seen in the area recently.
“The Aquino government deployed many elements of the police and military during the socalled CLOA distribution by DAR, to subvert the protest of the farm workers. Now they are actually sending in more forces to intimidate the unarmed farm workers led by Ambala,” Canlas said.
In a statement, AMGL accused the Cojuangco- Aquino family of trying to retain ownership of as much land it still could in the hacienda whose value has continued to rise arising from the nearby location of the Subic- Clark-Tarlac Expressway and Tarlac-Pangasinan- La Union Expressway.
