“Hacienda Luisita farm workers cannot be fooled by the SC’s legal
semantics. The SC order pretends to be democratic when, in fact, it is
anti-democratic.” – Danilo Ramos, Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas.
By
RONALYN V. OLEA
Bulatlat.com
MANILA – Reacting to a recent statement by a Supreme Court official,
farmers said the high court decision issued in July provided the
conditions for a rehash of “the same monstrous scheme” conducted in 1989
and in August last year.
In a report, Supreme Court administrator and spokesman Jose Midas
Marquez said the high court’s July 5 ruling did not require a referendum
among farm workers in the 6,453 hectare-disputed Hacienda Luisita
owned by President Benigno S. Aquino III and family.
Marquez said the order allows each farm worker-beneficiary (FWB) to
choose whether they wanted to own their share of the land or remain as a
stockholder in Hacienda Luisita Inc. (HLI). “A majority vote is not
required since the choice of an FWB would not affect the choice of other
FWBs,” he said., adding that FWB can remain stockholders if they want
to and those who want land can still get portions of land subject to the
agrarian reform program of the government.
For Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP), Marquez’s “clarification”
does not mean anything. “Although the term referendum was not used in
the SC order, it is the same monstrous scheme used in the 1989
referendum on the stock distribution option and the August 2010
referendum on the compromise agreement cooked up by the
Cojuangco-Aquinos. The SC order is designed to divide, deceive, and
perpetuate social injustice against the Hacienda Luisita farmworkers,
and subscribes to the President’s relatives’ maneuver to evade land
distribution,” KMP secretary general Danilo Ramos said.
“The Cojuangco-Aquinos are notorious for employing guns, goons, and
gold inside the Hacienda just like what happened in two sham referendums
in the past,” Ramos said.
In
1989,
Cojuangco-Aquinos allegedly used their private army and the military to
harass and intimidate the farmers into agreeing to the stock
distribution option (SDO). In August 2010, the Cojuangco-Aquinos offered
a
deal with a section of farmers in an attempt to maintain the SDO scheme.
“Hacienda Luisita farm workers cannot be fooled by the SC’s legal
semantics. The SC order pretends to be democratic when, in fact, it is
anti-democratic,” Ramos said.
In its 92-page order, the court directed the DAR to “immediately
schedule meetings with the farm workers and explain to them the effects,
consequences and legal or practical implications of their choices.” It
said the farm workers “will be asked to manifest, in secret voting,
their choices in the ballot.”
“Whether through a referendum or secret voting, we still see the SC
ruling as a manipulative scheme by the Cojuangcos-Aquinos to prevent
genuine land distribution in Hacienda Luisita,” Anakpawis Rep. Rafael
Mariano said.
Junk SDO
Mariano reiterated the call of farmers to revoke the SDO which, he
said, was conveniently used by the President’s family to evade land
distribution.
Last month, the Alyansa ng mga Manggagawanag Bukid sa Asyenda Luisita
(Ambala) has filed their motion for reconsideration asking the high
court to reverse its decision on the SDO.
The high court declared that the SDO agreement was not revoked and
that it was only the Stock Distribution Plan (SDP) and Presidential
Agrarian Reform Council (PARC) resolution approving it that was
cancelled.
“The very reason why the farmworkers petitioned to revoke the SDO of
Hacienda Luisita was the fact that instead of the envisioned better
lives under the said scheme, their living conditions worsened. The farm
workers were not given any dividends. They remained the minority
stockholders. They have no control over the use and disposition of the
assets of the corporation including the land. They have no say in the
corporate business ventures. Their hours of work were dictated by the
corporation. In short, they were at the mercy of HLI,” Ambala stated in
their petition.
“SC Spokesperson Midas Marquez cannot make an excuse out of the fact
that the SC decision perpetuated social injustice in Hacienda Luisita,”
Mariano said.....
MORE
Source: Bulatlat.com
URL:
http://bulatlat.com/main/2011/08/16/sc-decision-%E2%80%98same-monster-as-1989-2010-referendum%E2%80%99%E2%80%93-farmers%E2%80%99-group/