(Photo grabbed from web)
HACIENDA LUISITA, Tarlac– Despite land reform here, land struggle has remained amid allegations of the Alyansa ng mga Manggagawang Bukid sa Hacienda Luisita (Ambala) that the Cojuangco-Lorenzo clans have allegedly kept undistributed lands to themselves.
Ambala also alleged the two clans have also sold some of the lands, while resorting to means to regain control of areas already distributed to farmworkers under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program.
Hundreds of Ambala members gathered in a general assembly here last Sunday to elect new officers and show unity against the alleged anomalies.
Newly elected Ambala chair Luning Trinidad said last Sunday’s event was “timely and significant for Ambala and for the people of Luisita.”
Entrepreneur Marin Lorenzo acquired in 2014 majority control of Hacienda Luisita’s sugar refinery owned by the Cojuangcos, using a P2-billlion loan. Later, he and Ayala Land announced the latter had obtained clearance from the Philippine Competition Commission to acquire for an undisclosed amount 290 hectares out of the 628-hectare Luisita complex within the refinery.
Hacienda farmworkers have insisted that the entire area was supposed to be covered by land reform, too.
“The present struggle of the people of Luisita includes the eviction of more than 800 families in Barangay Central to pave way for a project by Ayala Land Inc. Demolitions are also expected in neighboring barangays such as Mapalacsiao, Texas, Cutcut, and Balete because of the road widening to ease up the fl ow of trade and commerce (towards the project),” Trinidad said.
Trinidad also noted that “the 10-year leeway for the CLOA of the land distribution beneficiaries is about to end in 2023 as Cojuangco-Lorenzo strengthen their control over the undistributed lands and even the distributed lot allocations through the tambiolo system.”
“These lands are getting sold for the Cojuangco- Lorenzo’s aim to pursue land conversion for commercial use as another implementation of Duterte’s anti-poor economic policies,” she added.
Ambala also decried “the escalating deception, intimidation and harassment of the military through the 3rd Mechanized Infantry Battalion against the people of Luisita,” claiming that “elements of the 3rd-Mech conduct psywar operations against farmers around the Tadeco Bungkalan Area in Balete. Also, the military also coerce the leaders, organizers, and common members of Ambala to surrender as rebels and cooperate with them.”
Joseph Canlas, leader of the Alyansa ng mga Magbubukid sa Gitnang Luzon (AMGL), a regional alliance where Ambala is a member, said “this is a result of several years of intelligence operations, harassment, and deception by the enemy with the collaboration of the Cojuangco-Lorenzo clan to corrupt, pacify, intimidate and silence the leaders of progressive peasant organizations.”
Military
In its statement, Ambala said “the infiltration of military and other state armed forces in Luisita has worsened.”
“They introduce themselves as propeace through founding anti-crime groups, conducting medical and socio-civic missions, intervening in barangay forums, and spying and patrolling around the barrios. They recruit and deploy intelligence assets to spread gossips in attempt of dismantling the unity of the people who fight for land, housing, livelihood, and justice,” Ambala said.
This, as Trinidad claimed that “martial law, even without being declared, is felt by the Luisita people just like in Negros and Mindanao.”
“No matter how the military hustles, the residents of Luisita will never get fooled with their presence,” she said, insisting that the military’s intention is “to protect the profit-oriented interests of the Cojuangco-Lorenzo and other landlords and capitalists in Luisita.”
After the assembly, a Caravan for Land and Justice was launched around the 11 barangays of Luisita, calling “for the intensification of the people’s struggle for land, housing, livelihood and justice in Luisita, and against the fascism and militarization of the 3rd Mech and the Duterte regime.”
