ANGELES CITY – Land reform beneficiaries at the Hacienda Luisita decried yesterday the move of the Cojuangco-controlled Hacienda Luisita Inc. (HLI) to inhibit Chief Justice Renato Corona from its pending appeals with the Supreme Court against land distribution at the estate.
The Alyansa ng mga Manggagawang Bukid sa Asyenda Luisita (Ambala), the United Luisita Workers Union (ULWU) and their mother federation Unyon ng mga Manggagawa sa Agrikultura (UMA) said in a joint statement yesterday that the HLI’s petition to inhibit Corona merely “confirmed” the plan of the family of Pres. Aquino to reverse the high court’s decision on Nov. 22 last year ordering land distribution at the hacienda.
“The long running land reform syndicate of the Cojuangco-Aquino known as HLI management is pursuing another dirty tack to reverse the SC decision in honor of the dishonorable Cojuangco-Aquino landed aristocracy,” said UMA Secretary General Rodel Mesa.
Earlier, Corona himself said that the Supreme Court verdict ordering land distribution in Hacienda Luisita was one of the reasons why Malacanang was pushing for his impeachment. Malacanang denied this.
The HLI has a pending motion for reconsideration asking the Supreme Court to consider offering stock distribution option (SDO) in lieu of land distribution, the lifting of a 10-year moratorium on the selling of hacienda lands, and questioning the order of the court to pay the farmers some P1.33 billion earned by HLI in the sale of some 500 hectares of hacienda agricultural lands which were converted into industrial zones.
Mesa said “HLI’s latest move to inhibit Corona was a very obvious move to attack and reverse the SC decision acknowledging the land rights of more than 6,000 farm worker beneficiaries to 4,916 hectares of the sugar estate, including P 1.33 billion in total payment to farm workers representing their legitimate shares from the sale of three parcels of Luisita lands to private clients of HLI.”
The UMA leader said while hacienda farmers “support the impeachment of Chief Justice Corona as a step to make former Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo accountable” for her “horrible crimes against peasants and the people”, they will not allow Pres. Aquino and his family to exploit Corona’s impeachment to pave the way for the reversal of the Supreme Court’s 14-0 decision to distribute hacienda lands.
Mesa noted that the lands should have been distributed to the farmers way back in 1967 as stipulated in the conditions of a loan from the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) obtained by the Cojuangcos in 1957 for the conditional purchase of the hacienda. He noted that the Cojuangcos held on to the estate for 55 years instead of merely 10 years as stated in the loan condition.
“Pres. Aquino never did divest himself of his interest in Luisita and his statements after the decision can attest to that,” Mesa said.
At the same time, Mesa also blasted allegedly trumped up charges filed by the Rizal Commercial and Banking Corp. (RCBC) against leaders and members of Ambala. RCBC is claiming 184 hectares of the 500 hectares earlier sold by HLI to different parties. HLI had turned over the 184 hectares to RCBC as loan payment.
“Aquino and his relatives together with the RCBC management are in cahoots to sow climate of fear by charging us with baseless complaints. But we are ready to face the complaints with tooth and nail,” Mesa said.
Mesa also said that “their plan is clear- to put the farm workers behind bars and turn the Supreme Court decision around in favor of Aquino and his relatives using the Corona impeachment then placing an Aquino appointee as chief justice and reverse the ruling on land distribution.”
He also stressed that the Cojuangco-Aquino clan and others to whom they had sold parts of the hacienda have become “illegal settlers” at the estate after the Supreme Court ordered the lands distributed to the farmers.
“They should leave Hacienda Luisita. Their prolonged stay only causes tensions between them and the farm worker beneficiaries,” Mesa added.
