THE peasant group Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) today defended Hacienda Luisita farm workers’ move petitioning the Supreme Court to stop what it called as the “conspiracy between the President’s family, the Cojuangcos of Tarlac, and the Department of Agrarian Reform in circumventing the distribution of the vast sugar estate.”
The peasant group issued the statement after Agrarian Reform Secretary Virgilio Delos Reyes said that the petition filed by the Alyansa ng mga Manggagawang Bukid sa Asyenda Luisita (Ambala) before the high court to stop the “tambiolo” or raffle draw system of allocating lots and what KMP described as the “forcible and coercive” signing of the ‘Application to Purchase and Farmers Undertaking (APFU)’ could “prolong the agony of qualified beneficiaries.”
“Ambala’s petition before the Supreme Court is against the conspiracy between the Cojuangcos and the DAR to circumvent the distribution of Hacienda Luisita. It is against the continuing social injustice, deception, and oppression imposed by Aquino’s DAR and the Cojuangcos to Hacienda Luisita farmers,” KMP secretary general Antonio Flores said.
Flores accused the DAR of “bastardizing and sabotaging the process of land distribution” of the sugar plantation.
“Since Day One, the DAR has corrupted the process of Hacienda Luisita’s distribution,” Flores said.
“As instrument of the Cojuangcos, the DAR itself bloated the number of beneficiaries by including Cojuangco loyalists, decreased the size of lands to be distributed, and intentionally disregarded the farm workers’ demand for collective ownership. And worst, after deceiving them with a “tambiolo,” the farm workers are being made to swear, in the presence of more than 200 state security forces, to pay for the lands that they already own. All these blatant maneuvers serve the Cojuangcos’ interests,” Flores said.
The KMP maintained that “Hacienda Luisita should be distributed for free and beyond the bounds of the sham Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP)” because the farm workers are already “owners of the more than 6,000-hectare lands that represents their 33.3 percent share in Hacienda Luisita, Inc. under the defunct stock distribution option scheme.”
Flores argued that “this is also the reason why the Supreme Court ordered Hacienda Luisita, Inc. to pay the farm workers a total amount of P1.3 billion because the Cojuangcos illegally sold and profited from the sale of the lands owned by the farm workers.”
The peasant leader also said that “the outright disregard of the farm workers’ demand for collective ownership would pave the way for the re-concentration of lands at the hands of the Cojuangcos.”
“At the same time, in parceling Hacienda Luisita into small lots, Delos Reyes only preserved the backward, disorganized, and small-scale production that favors big landlords like the Cojuangcos,” Flores insists.
“The DAR’s actions in Hacienda Luisita are all designed to fail. Just like what transpired in other plantations in the country that were allegedly distributed like Hacienda Looc, Hacienda Roxas, Hacienda Zobel, all in Batangas; and the vast of estates of Eduardo “Danding” Cojuangco Jr. in Negros Island, among others,” the KMP leader said.
The KMP also assailed Delos Reyes’s arrogance for his statement that he would face the court and answer the petition. “Should the high court set an oral argument, I am prepared to wear my robe. I’m ready to face the case,” Delos Reyes said.
“Manang-mana si Delos Reyes sa kahambugan ng amo niyang Presidente. He is bragging about defending their maneuvers in court when he can’t even face Hacienda Luisita farm workers in a dialogue or even coordinate with them in the distribution process, and disregarded the farm workers’ demands,” Flores said.
“Let we remind Delos Reyes that, like the Cojuangcos, he is similarly accountable in the ongoing deception, intimidation, and coercion being done against Hacienda Luisita farm workers. He will definitely have a day in court,” the KMP warned.
The post KMP to DAR: Luisita farmers’ petition to SC is against Cojuangco-DAR conspiracy appeared first on Remate.