ANGELES CITY – Farmer-leaders in Hacienda Luisita have called on Pres. Aquino’s family to heed the call of Catholic church authorities to withdraw moves that would draw back the distribution of hacienda lands to farmers.
“The church people have deeply felt our hardships at the hands of the Cojuangco-Aquinos. They believed that the decades-old exploitation and oppression of the Cojuangco-Aquinos resulted our present poverty and hunger,” the Alyansa ng mga Magbubukid sa Gitnang Luson (AMGL) and the Alyansa ng Manggagawang Bukid sa Asyenda Luisita (Ambala) said in a joint statement .
The statement urged Pres. Aquino “to listen and follow the church’s call to distribute Hacienda Luisita”, as it recalled that this was the same appeal issued by Bishop Broderick Pabillo, auxiliary bishop of Manila and chairperson of the Episcomal Commission on Social Action, Justice and Peace of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), during a Mass attended recently by hacienda workers at the Quiapo church in Manila.
“We praise them (CBCP officials) for their courage and commitment to help us in our struggle to push Aquino and his family to immediately distribute Hacienda Luisita,” said Ambala chairperson Felix Nacpil Jr. Ambala and AMGL said that the Cojuangco-Aquino family, which had owned the hacienda since 1957, has “continued to defy recognition of the farmworkers as the legitimate owners of the hacienda despite the Supreme Court on November 22 last year.”
AMGL chairperson Joseph Canlas recalled that the High Court, in its verdict, ordered the distribution of the remaining 4,915-hectares of agricultural lands in the hacienda.
“But on December 19, the Cojuangco-Aquinos filed their motion for clarification and reconsideration of the decision, thus confirming their intent to preserve their control over the hacienda or at least rake up money by seeking higher and prohibitive compensation for land distribution,” he noted.
“More and more sectors in our society are becoming aware of the moral and just side of the Hacienda Luisita issue. The Catholic church has made her stand on the side of the farmworkers in their struggle for social justice in the country,” Canlas said.
Canlas said the hacienda issue has become “a battle of good versus evil.” “Pres. Aquino continues to act as the warden of Cojuangco-Aquinos’ interests.
He claims to lead the country but could not lead his very own family into giving up the hacienda so that many small farmworkers could benefit from land distribution,” Canlas added.
This, even as AMGL and Ambala urged Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona, in a protest action before going to the Mass at Quiapo church, “to stick on the decision favoring the farmworkers and not succumb to political offensive initiated by the Aquino government through the impeachment.”
“We, farmworkers, have affirmed our fight for genuine agrarian reform and no one can prevent us from cultivation as we are legitimate owners of Hacienda Luisita,” Nacpil stressed.
