Widespread protests called vs sham Hacienda Luisita deal By Charlie V, Manalo 08/09/2010

Congressional probe sought by militants Widespread protests called vs sham Hacienda Luisita deal By Charlie V, Manalo 08/09/2010 The Cojuangco-Aquino owned Hacienda Luisita’s move to keep the farm under the clan’s full control while maintaining the status quo, with the farm workers reduced to owning a third of the shares under the stock distribution option, or the SDO, instead of owning the land, may not be all that easy, as calls are now being made by militant group leaders to stage widespread protests against the Cojuangco-Aquino clan’s move, as well as calls being made for a congressional probe on the compromise agreement. Anakpawis Rep. and Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) chairman Rafael Mariano yesterday called on farmers across the country to launch “widespread protests” to condemn the latest maneuver of the Cojuangco-Aquinos, the family of President Noynoy Aquino, to retain the SDO scheme in Hacienda Luisita.   A case filed by militant farmers against the hacienda is before the high court, with a scheduled hearing on oral arguments this month. It was also pointed out by lawyers of the farmers’ groups that the agreement that offered hacienda workers the choice of retaining their stocks under the SDO or get the land parceled among the workers, but giving them much less land than what the workers believed to already be theirs, under an old agreement inked between the original owners of the Hacienda and the grandparents of Noynoy Aquino will preempt any ruling from the Supreme Court, should the compromise agreement be upheld by the SC. Mariano also assailed the claim of Hacienda Luisita, Inc. (HLI) that “more than 90 percent” of the farmers have elected to keep their shares under the SDO saying that “the HLI’s statement only shows that the Hacienda owners are still stuck in the dark days of feudal aristocracy.”... MORE Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20100809hed1.html

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