In a joint statement, Ambala and the partylist Anakpawis said the sugar mill, located within Hacienda Luisita in Tarlac, is part of the assets of the Cojuangco-owned Hacienda Luisita Inc. (HLI) which still owes P1.33 billion to the farmer beneficiaries of land reform in the estate that used to belong to Pres. Aquino’s family.
Workers at the sugar mill are reportedly now being fired as a consequence of the sale, Anakpawis Rep. Fernando Hicap said.
Ambala recalled the order of the Supreme Court in 2012 ordering HLI to turn over P1.33 billion to land reform beneficiaries in the hacienda as part of their share from the sale of some 500 hectares of hacienda lands to the Rizal Commercial and Banking Corp. (RCBC) and another 80 hectares to give way to a stretch of the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEx).
The sugar mill was reportedly sold by HLI to the firm owned by the family of Lorenzo, who was agriculture secretary during the term of former Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
This, even as Ambala dared the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) midto also distribute under the land reform program at least 1,000 more hectares which the Cojuangcos allegedly hid from land reform coverage.
“The titles and documents trace the transfer of land property to several Cojuangco-Aquino corporate avatars to deliberately hide these landholdings from the scrutiny of farmers and agrarian reform institutions,” Ambala said.
It said the 1,000 hectares cover lands being claimed by the CAT and the Luisita Realty Corporation (LRC), which Lorenzo also allegedly bought from the Cojuangco family and fenced off from hacienda farmers.
“LRC was also applied for the inclusion of 258 hectares of farmlands in Barangay Balete which was already under by notice of coverage for industrial park.
CAT land grabbed 374 hectares of farm lands in Barangays Mapalacsiao, Parang and Central in the hacienda,” Ambala noted.
Hicap said “the sellout would definitely weaken the just claim of the farm worker beneficiaries to their share.
Once and again the Department of Agrarian Reform showed its incompetency to protect the interests of the Luisita farm worker beneficiaries.”
Part of the April 2012 Supreme Court decision ordered not only the distribution of Luisita but also a mandate for the DAR to look for a reputable accounting firm to determine if HLI actually used or spent the P1.33 billion for legitimate corporate purposes.
“The government already paid the Cojuangco- Aquinos P471 million worth of compensation under the agrarian reform law. Also the DAR orchestrated the highly immoral tambiolo land distribution which left farmer beneficiaries confused. Now they have sold the sugar mill despite some legal issues surrounding it. Injustice seems no end to the farm worker beneficiaries,” Hicap said.
At the same time, Hicap also hit the mass lay off of Luisita sugar workers due to the sugar mill sell-out. “Workers exploitation like job insecurity, low wages and union busting are trademarks of the HLI,” he added.
