ANGELES CITY – Hacienda Luisita farmers urged yesterday Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona to “quit whining” about his being persecuted by the Aquino administration and instead pave the way for the resolution of pending cases on the high court’s decision on Nov. 22 last year to distribute hacienda lands to them.
The Alyansa ng Manggagawang Bukid sa Asyenda Luisita (Ambala) and its mother organization Alyansa ng mga Magbubukid sa Gitnang Luson (AMGL) said in a statement yesterday that Corona and the rest of the justices of the high court should “finally decide and execute the distribution of 4,915 agricultural lands to farm workers under Ambala as the legitimate owners of Hacienda Luisita.”
On Nov. 22 last year, the Supreme Court ordered land distribution in the estate owned by the family of Pres. Aquino.
This was not immediately implemented amid appeals for reconsideration on various aspects of the verdict, as filed by the Cojuangco-controlled Hacienda Luisita Inc. (HLI).
Corona said that his impeachment case now being heard by the Senate was initiated by Malacañang after blocking a petition by HLI to award the President’s family some P10 billion as compensation for land distribution.
“I was the one who blocked the bid for the payment of P10 billion just compensation. I have to be removed so that they can be paid that amount,” Corona alleged.
Ambala chairperson Felix Nacpil Jr. noted that “both parties have already submitted their arguments and the SC have already deliberated. And yet, nothing’s new on the argument to finally decide on Hacienda Luisita’s case.”
“Obviously, both Corona and Pres. Aquino are using the issue of Hacienda Luisita for their vested interest. And we, the farmworkers are sick and tired of this endless mudslinging, “Nacpil added.
He said that “even before the oral arguments on the hacienda case, farmworkers trooped regularly to Supreme Court to pressure Corona to finally decide on Hacienda Luisita.”
“We also demand that the transaction between RCBC (Rizal Commercial and Banking Corp.) and the Cojuangcos be declared null and void. Only the Cojuangcos benefitted from the selling of the lands, the farmworkers got nothing from it,” Nacpil said.
He was referring to some 180 hectares of hacienda lands which HLI turned over to RCBC as payment for a loan. The farmers insisted that this turn over was illegitimate since they were already contesting the ownership of the hacienda at that time.
The AMGL and AMBALA statement said HLI’s motion filed last December 2011 for the Supreme Court to reconsider its verdict on land distribution, as against the so-called stock distribution option (SDO) “again signifies that they have no intention of letting go of the lands.”
“Again, we are firm on our stand that the Cojuangco-Aquinos must not be compensated with P10 billion according to the current value market.
It seems that Associate Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno is acting as the defender of the Cojuangco-Aquino’s interest in the Supreme Court because of her dissenting opinion on this matter,” Joseph Canlas, AMGL Chairperson.
Canlas recalled that the Cojuangcos “used public funds from the Government Service Insurance System to acquire Hacienda Luisita in 1957 but under the condition that the lands would be turned over to the tenants after 10 years or in 1967.”
“Instead, the President’s family “pushed for an assumption of jurisdiction that led to the Hacienda Luisita massacre on November 16, 2004;” he said.
Canlas said hacienda farmworkers are gearing up for a series of protests in front of the Supreme Court to demand the immediate and free distribution of Hacienda Luisita.
