CLARK FREEPORT – Anakpawis party list Rep. Rafael Mariano has proposed “collective ownership and cultivation” of Hacienda Luisita which, in a unanimous decision last Tuesday, the Supreme Court ordered to be turned over to over 6,000 agrarian reform beneficiaries.
He also urged the government to distribute the lands for free and not compensate the Cojuangco-Aquino family as normally prescribed under the agrarian reform law.
In a press conference held during the 4th National Convention of Anakpawis party list attended by over 500 delegates from all over the country, Mariano urged that such a scheme be placed under the supervision of hacienda-based farmer organizations, as he cited the Alyansa ng mga Manggagawang Bukid sa Asyenda Luisita (Ambala).
He said the Ambala could be assisted by the agricultural labor union group United Luisita Workers Union (ULWU).
Mariano said this would be an option better than individual distribution of the 4,915 hectares of the hacienda to 6,296 beneficiaries.
“Collective ownership of Hacienda Luisita in the name of farm worker beneficiaries is deemed necessary to effectively and truthfully carry out the decision of the high tribunal. This will seal the ownership of Luisita in the hands of farm worker beneficiaries,” Mariano said.
Mariano, also the chair of the militant Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) also urged the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) to “agree with the legitimate proposal of ULWU and Ambala to have Hacienda Luisita land distributed for free instead of asking Luisita farm workers amortization fees for the next 30 years.”
“In the name of social justice, the DAR must waive amortization and distribute for free the 4,915 hectares of land to 6,296 recognized farmer beneficiaries.
Free land distribution is the centerpiece of social justice when we talk of land reform. For DAR’s information, the Cojuangco-Aquino feudal aristocracy in Luisita had already gained huge fortune from their immoral and illegal control of the sugar estate for 57 years,” Mariano pointed out.
“We strongly suggest DAR to reject any request from the family of President Benigno Aquino III concerning just compensation whether it is P196 million or P10 billion. The Cojuangco-Aquino clan does not deserve even P1 as just compensation,” he added.
Mariano also urged DAR and the Office of the Solicitor General to enforce the decision of the high court instructing HLI management to pay farm worker beneficiaries the amount of P1.3 billion representing their shares from the sale of 500 hectares of Luisita in 1996 (P 500 million), from the sale of lands currently covered by Luisita Industrial Park (P750 million) and from the sale of portions of Luisita covered by the construction of SCTEX (P 80 million).
“The P 1.3 billion representing farmworkers’ share from the sale of Luisita lands will be used as seed money for hacienda’s agricultural development and rural industrialization.
The beneficiaries can use that money to buy new farm equipments, seeds and other means to make Luisita more productive and improve the lives of poor farm workers,” said Mariano.
Anakpawis also asked DAR to nullify HLI’s sale and awarding of some 500 hectares of sugar land to Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC).
It said the conversion order granted to RCBC should also be revoked and immediately put to coverage the 500 hectares of land currently in the bank’s disposition.
The party list also urged “the demilitarization or the immediate and unconditional pullout of all military personnel in Hacienda Luisita.”
It noted that “troops from Northern Luzon Command (Nolcom) have become regular fixtures in all barangay halls inside Luisita, thus transforming Luisita into either a military garrison or a military reservation of Nolcom.”
