“The arduous struggle for land distribution of Hacienda
Luisita is just and legitimate, as landlords Cojuangcos and Aquinos continue to
deny the return of land to its tillers, a condition which constituted the
original agreement between the Cojuangcos and the Magsaysay government way back
in 1967,” said Jigs Clamor, Karapatan Deputy Secretary General, on the “bungkalan”
and land occupation of peasant farmers and farmworkers dubbed as #OccupyLuisita
campaign.
“The arduous struggle for land distribution of Hacienda
Luisita is just and legitimate, as landlords Cojuangcos and Aquinos continue to
deny the return of land to its tillers, a condition which constituted the
original agreement between the Cojuangcos and the Magsaysay government way back
in 1967,” said Jigs Clamor, Karapatan Deputy Secretary General, on the “bungkalan”
and land occupation of peasant farmers and farmworkers dubbed as #OccupyLuisita
campaign.
On April 23, 2017, the
Alyansa ng Manggagawang-bukid sa Asyenda Luisita (AMBALA), supported by peasant
organizations such as Unyon ng mga Manggagawa sa Agrikultura (UMA) and Kilusang
Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP), started the #OccupyLuisita to assert the farmers
right to the 6,000-hectare sugar plantation.
On
April 24, hundreds of farmers and their supporters successfully broke down the
walls built by the Cojuango-Aquinos and their business partners, the Yuchengcos
of the Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) and Lorenzos of Lapanday, around
agricultural lands in Brgy. Balete, which was subjected to land conversion in
1996. “In their typical despotic fashion, the Cojuangco-Aquinos have mobilized
State security forces to the area to protect the interests of the landlords. They
have long grabbed land meant for distribution, circumventing court decisions
and taking advantage of land conversion as a means to further gain huge profits,”
said Clamor, citing HLI’s sale of the 500-hectare property to RCBC and
LIPCO and 80.5 hectares used for the SCTEX amounting to PhP 1.33 billion
The
Supreme Court (SC), in a unanimous decision, ordered the distribution of HLI to
the farmer-beneficiaries on November 22, 2011. This decision was reaffirmed by
the SC on April 24, 2012.
“Hacienda
Luisita has been a site of emblematic cases of human rights violations, notably
the 2004 massacre of seven striking farmworkers who were among those who demanded
the turnover of the land to its rightful beneficiaries. The massacre exposed
the greed and fascist character of the landed elite, fully backed by State
security forces at their disposal. No member of this Cojuangco-Aquino family,
nor any of the military and police elements involved in the massacre, was ever
persecuted. This makes policies and steps for a genuine land reform all the
more necessary,” Clamor added.
Clamor
cited the recent developments in the peace talks between the Government of the
Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the National Democratic Front of the
Philippines (NDFP), particularly the progress in discussions and drafts of the
Comprehensive Agreement on Social and Economic Reforms (CASER), of which free
land distribution is a central issue and principle. He also cited the positive
steps of Agrarian Reform Secretary Rafael “Ka Paeng” Mariano in responding to
the clamor of peasants for free land distribution and a moratorium on land
conversion.
“All forms of support for
the peasants’ struggle against feudal exploitation, including the historic
campaign of the Hacienda Luisita farmworkers, are necessary. Likewise, we
challenge the Duterte administration to stand with the farmers to exact accountability
from the Cojuangco-Aquino clan for their crimes against peasants,” Clamor
ended.