LANDLORD AND COMPRADOR Edu­ar­do “Dan­ding” Cojuangco, Jr died last June 16. He was one of the closest cronies of late dictator Ferdinand Marcos and is notorious for plundering the coco levy fund and land grabbing. He left a legacy of landlessness and oppression to farmers and farm workers.

In Negros Occidental, he monopolized control over 11 haciendas covering 4,461 hectares of land which he grabbed from peasants. He was notorious for conniving with anyone in power to strengthen his control over the haciendas. He also masterminded the eviction and slapping of trumped-up charges against peasants asserting their right to own the land in the said haciendas.

He was also notorious for plundering the coco levy fund that is supposedly intended for coconut farmers. He used the said fund to buy the San Mi­gu­el Cor­po­ra­ti­on. Approximately P105 billion are yet to be returned to coconut farmers. His companies are notorious for widespread practices of contractualization and other flexible labor arrangements.