Nothing unusual in SC review of HLI — Palace 06/22/2010

Nothing unusual in SC review of HLI — Palace

06/22/2010 Malacañang said yesterday it does not see anything peculiar about Chief Justice Renato Corona’s order to review a long-standing labor dispute in Hacienda Luisita Inc. (HLI) in Tarlac owned by the Cojuangco family of President-elect Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III adding that it is a regular course of the judicial process. Corona only reacted to a case properly filed by a group representing the employees of the hacienda so it’s given due course and it is expected that this will be properly processed by the Supreme Court, President Arroyo’s spokesman Gary Olivar said.  “This is a regular court action and we trust that it will be processed appropriately and expediently by our justice system,” he added. The order is being linked to Aquino’s rejection of Corona as head of the Supreme Court and his refusal to take his oath of office as president from the Chief Justice who was appointed to the post by outgoing President Arroyo. “We should certainly give the benefit of the doubt and have a high regard for the character of the Chief Justice and the President-elect, that they will behave appropriately as required by their respective positions. There is no reason for us to lower our regard for either these gentlemen as this case proceeds,” Olivar said.  “It has been properly filed, there are interested parties and I see no reason to read anything more into this incident,” Olivar added. Aggrieved farm workers of the 6,453 hectare sugar estate, meanwhile, welcomed the order of Corona to give priority on the review of the land reform row on Hacienda Luisita. “The order for review is welcome news. We hope this won’t be the beginning of another false start. We hope this is the beginning of an end to a sugar coated reign and long-running feudal exploitation inside Hacienda Luisita,” the Unyon ng Mga Manggagawa Sa Agrikultura (UMA), the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP), the Amihan peasant women federation and the left leaning fisherfolk alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) said in a joint statement in reaction to Chief Justice recent order for a review on the Hacienda Luisita land row case..... MORE Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20100622hed2.html

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