Aquino acting as spokesperson of Hacienda Luisita – Pamalakaya
“The value of the hundreds of thousands of tons of Luisita sugar comes from the labor of the farmers and the mill workers. Without them, the Hacienda would have remained a vacant lot.The farmers have already paid for their lands many times over.” – Anakbayan
By INA ALLECO R. SILVERIO
Bulatlat.com
President Benigno Aquino III is using his influence as executive to throw a monkey wrench in the preparations for the transfer ownership of the Hacienda Luisita sugar estate to qualified agrarian reform beneficiaries.
This was the allegation of the fisherfolk alliance Pambansang ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya), one of the long-time supporters of the farmworkers of Hacienda Luisita.
Pamalakaya chairman Fernando Hicap said Aquino would do well to remember that he is the president of the country and not the spokesperson of Hacienda Luisita Inc. (HLI). Hicap was reacting to the statement made by Aquino that the land owners of HLI deserve “just compensation from the government” once they relinquish their control over the sprawling 6,453-hectare hacienda, of which 4,915 hectares have been declared by the Supreme Court as immediately viable for land reform.
While he refused to directly comment on the Supreme Court’s decision declaring that Hacienda Luisita should be given to the farmworkers, Aquino said one sector should not be sacrificed just to accommodate the other on the issue of land distribution..... MORE
Source: Bulatlat.com
URL: http://bulatlat.com/main/2011/11/30/aquino-acting-as-spokesperson-of-hacienda-luisita-pamalakaya/