Luisita farmers wary of newly created mediation panel By Pat C. Santos 10/04/2010

Luisita farmers wary of newly created mediation panel
By Pat C. Santos
10/04/2010

Hacienda Luisita farmers who are against the Stock Distribution Option (SDO) scheme that the Cojuangco-Aquino family wants retained, yesterday expressed ap-prehension over the Supreme Court’s (SC) creation of a mediation panel, seeing this as yet another ploy of the hacienda owners to evade implementing the distribution of the land to, and ownership of, the farmers.

The SC ordered the creation of a special panel tasked to mediate the dispute between the Cojuangco-Aquino family that owns the majority shares of Hacienda Luisita Inc. (HLI) and farmer shareholders who are against the SDO scheme, along with other hacienda farmers who have signed up to retain the SDO arrangement with the hacienda owners, instead of insisting on the distribution of the farmland.

The mediation panel hopes to resolve the dispute in the hacienda through an amicable settlement.

Earlier, the SC had ordered oral arguments on the case.

The Solicitor General, Anselmo Cadiz, instead of upholding the Presidential Agrarian Reform Council (PARC)’s earlier decision, ruling that the SDO mode was no longer working and ordered the hacienda owners to parcel the land for distribution to the farmer, who have lost out in the SDO deal, argued that a com-promise agreement would resolve the case, and would.... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20101004hed3.html