NDF-Mindanao Joins the Whole Nation in Mourning the Victims of Hacienda Luisita Massacre

Jorge "Ka Oris" Madlos
Spokesperson
NDF-Mindanao
November 18, 2004

NDF-Mindanao joins the whole nation in mourning the death of the fourteen farm workers massacred by state armed forces last November 16, 2004 during the violent dispersal of a legitimate mass action asking for a measly wage increase and protesting unjust labor practices of the Hacienda Luisita. We wish to express our deepest sympathy to the families and loved ones of the fourteen victims of massacre and to the more than a hundred wounded and hurt in said incident.

We also join the whole nation in condemning this barbaric and heinous crime against hapless victims who were merely demanding for their right to subsist in the midst of this increasingly difficult times. We condemn the trigger happy AFP, PNP and other para-military forces involved in the crime.

We condemn the Hacienda Luisita owner and management and labor bureaucrat Patricia Santo Tomas who are behind the violent dispersal. We condemn the US-Arroyo regime's exploitative and repressive labor policies resulting to violence against farmers and workers.

The recent Hacienda Luisita massacre adds to the long list of massacres perpetrated by the reactionary armed forces upon the behest of the reactionary ruling classes. Among this we have the Mendiola massacre that killed 13 rallyist last January 22, 1987, during Cory Aquino's term ; the Lupao massacre in Pampanga last; the massacre of 19 rallyist in Escalante, Negros Occidental; the massacre of 3 youths in Maco, Compostela Valley, the

massacre of 12 farmers in San Pedro, Prosperidad, Agusan del Sur; and other countless and unrecorded massacres, including those against our Moro brothers.

The death of the fourteen and the wounding of more than a hundred of farm workers in Hacienda Luisita once again expose the terrorist character of the state and the ruling classes. The heroic deaths of the victims will arouse the masses ever more to fight in defense of their legitimate interest against the selfish interest of the reactionary ruling classes.

We call upon the people to express their grief and sympathy by joining the nationwide mourning, condemnation and protest against the perpetrators and all those behind this dastardly acts. We ask the workers and farmers to strongly register their voice of protest. We also ask the progressive and well-meaning groups and personalities to lend their support and sympathy in concrete and varying forms such as launching of mass actions, fora, statement of sympathy, donations and other forms.

(Sgd.) Ka Oris
Spokesperson
NDF-Mindanao
November 18, 2004

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