This, amid reports that men armed with bolos have been attacking them in their homes in Barangay Mapalacsiao within the hacienda in Tarlac.
Land reform beneficiaries from the Unyon ng Manggagawa sa Agrikultura (UMA) and the Alyansa ng Manggagawang Bukid sa Asyenda Luisita (Ambala) said the tambiolo or raffle draw system of awarding lands was part of the “divide and rule” ploy of the Cojuangco clan so as to regain control of their vast estate which was ordered by the Supreme Court in 2012 to be distributed to farm workers.
In a statement, the two groups said the tambiolo scheme was designed so as “the landlords could still control prime lots for sugarcane production or for some other lucrative land use venture.”
They noted that the tambiolo system led to the awarding of lands to folk living in other barangays. Because of this, many are tempted to just lease out their lands to alleged lackeys of the Cojuangcos, they added.
“There are more than a hundred beneficiaries from Barangay Lourdes who were allocated lots in Mapalacsiao. Meanwhile, most Mapalacsiao beneficiaries more than 600 out of the total 810 were allocated lots in far-off Luisita barangays located in the other towns of Concepcion and La Paz within the hacienda,” they said.
They noted that “Hacienda Lusita is as big as Makati and Manila combined and Mapalacsiao is just a village within Tarlac City.”
The two groups also said some barangay officials within the hacienda have been under the payroll of the Cojuangcos and tasked to make it appear that untoward incidents in the estate were due to infighting between land reform beneficiaries.
They blamed one such barangay official for a shooting incident last Nov. 25 at “bungkalan” community farm of the beneficiaries in Mapalacsiao. The official also led about 100 goons in occupying their farm huts in the area last Dec. 4, the groups said.
Most of the farmworkers have opted for the bungkalan farming in their barangays instead of developing distant lots awarded to them under the tambiolo scheme.
They noted that “police based in Mapalacsiao never intervened during various untoward incidents starting Nov. 25 despite requests for assistance by farmers. It was only on December 5 that police from Tarlac City tried to step in, because by then Amabala members had already successfully reclaimed their huts from the goons.”
The groups also noted that under the tambiolo system, folk in Barangay Lourdes were awarded lands in Mapalacsiao which, they noted, was already “an area where there are already farmers who have made the land productive with rice, vegetables and fruit trees since 2005.”
“Aquino’s much derided tambiolo land reform or fake land distribution was implemented with impunity along with landgrabbing, eviction and atrocities against tillers during the past six years of his haciendero regime – a farmer was found dead in a bungkalan area in Barangay Balete, hundreds of hectares of rice fields were bulldozed, farm huts were burned, tillers were assaulted and arrested by goons and police in so many violent incidents, and hundreds of farmers were slapped with various fabricated charges,” they reported.
This, as they expressed confidence that Agrarian Reform Sec. Rafael Mariano would push through with plans to nullify the tambiolo land reform in favor of a better system of land distribution at the hacienda.
