Protests rock Hacienda Luisita
Over 300 farm workers from Hacienda Luisita in Tarlac have been picketing in front of the Department of Agrarian Reform in Quezon City since October 28 to demand the scrapping of the stock distribution option (SDO) under the non-land transfer scheme of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP). The mass action is led by the Alyansa ng mga Manggagawang-Bukid sa Hacienda Luisita (AMBALA).
The SDO is a scheme cooked up by the Aquino regime in 1987. Pres. Corazon Cojuangco Aquino�s objective was to exempt the 6,453-hectare Hacienda Luisita owned by her family from land distribution under the CARP. Instead of land, corporate stocks were distributed to the farm workers who were deceptively regarded as co-owners of the hacienda.
Through further maneuvers, the SDO merely strengthened the Cojuangcos� monopoly and control over large tracts of land which had long been tilled by the farm workers� forebears. AMBALA chair Ben Pampoza said the agreement provides for P118 million in the hacienda�s shares of stocks to be given to the beneficiaries each year for a period of 30 years. However, he said, the amount represents only 33.29% of Hacienda Luisita, Inc.�s (HLI) total worth. This means that the Cojuangcos still hold 66.7% of the stocks and have absolute control of the corporate farm. The 33.29% of the stocks supposedly set aside for the farm workers is equivalent to a mere 1,633 hectares out of the hacienda�s total 6,431 hectares.
Aside from this, the dividends distributed to the farm workers are based on the number of days they worked and not on the corporation�s total profits. Based on this calculation, the oppressed and exploited farm workers receive only P200 each year.
Last month, AMBALA, regular workers and supervisors of Central Azucarera de Tarlac (CAT) as well as farm workers boycotted the election for the representatives to HLI�s board of directors. Because of the boycott, only 15.77% of the 6,296 farm workers� 55.418 million shares were represented in the voting. Pampoza said the election results reflected the sentiments of the hacienda�s farm workers. The Cojuangco family wallows in luxury, he said, while families of farm workers suffer extreme poverty.
Aside from HLI and CAT, among the companies from which the Cojuangcos earn millions of pesos are Tarlac Development Corp., Jose Cojuangco & Sons, Inc., Luisita Marketing Corp. and the Tarlac Distillery Corp.
The hacienda that former president Aquino vaunted as a model of her CARP has instead epitomized the landlords� rampant and shameless indulgence on land that should benefit the farm workers. It is but right for Hacienda Luisita�s farm workers to fortify their ranks to further advance their struggle for genuine land reform.
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