Some Luisita farmers to vote for Noynoy

TARLAC CITY, Tarlac - Contrary to popular belief and his rivals’ claim, presidential aspirant Senator Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III (Liberal Party) has supporters in the 6,435-hectare Hacienda Luisita. This was the statement of some people residing in the Cojuangco-owned property even though the non-distribution of Luisita land to farmer-beneficiaries has been one of the biggest issues being hurled against Aquino. According to Andres Sebastian, a 45-year-old former farmer who resides in one of the 10 barangays covered by the controversial property, a lot of Luisita residents will still vote for Aquino, the son of the late President Corazon “Cory" Aquino and slain Sen. Benigno “Ninoy" Aquino Jr., although he cannot say how many. "Dito sa Hacienda Luisita mananalo siya, kaya lang hindi ko alam kung anong porsyento (He will win here in Hacienda Luisita, I just don't know by how many percent)," said Sebastian, who volunteers as a campaign coordinator for Aquino.

Sebastian said he was a seasonal farm worker in the sugar plantation for 12 years before working as a utility man. Unlike militant farmers in the plantation, Sebastian said he doesn't blame Aquino for the deaths of farm workers during a violent dispersal of rallyists there on November 2004. [See: Justice still elusive for Luisita massacre victims] Not angry "Paano po kami magagalit, wala naman po siyang kinalaman dun. Wala naman siya dun (How can we be angry at him when he has nothing to do with it? He wasn’t even there)," Sebastian said. He added that prior to the Hacienda Luisita massacre, farmers received travel allowances and hospital and educational loans from the Hacienda Luisita management. Sebastian's mother, 72-year-old Aquilina, said she and all other voting members of her family are solid behind Aquino. She has 12 children and around 20 grandchildren. "May utang na loob kami sa mga may-ari nito dahil ito ang tinitirikan namin nito (We have a sense of gratitude for the owners because it is where our house stands)," said Aquilina, who was also a farmer in her younger days. "Maraming gumanda ang bahay dahil sa pagtatrabao dito sa hacienda (Many lives improved because of the work here in the hacienda)," she added. Very few supporters Farmer Lito Bais, the 52-year-old leader of the United Luisita Workers' Union (ULWU), a 10,000-strong organization of Hacienda Luisita farmers, acknowledged that Aquino has supporters within the plantation. "Dito sa Hacienda Luisita hindi mo mai-aalis na walang boboto sa kanya, dahil may mga loyal naman talaga sa kanya (Here in Luisita you cannot say that no one will vote for him, because he does have loyal followers)," Bais said. But Bais pegged Aquino's supporters in Luisita, which he said has around 20,000 voters, at only 10 percent. According to him, Senator Manuel Villar Jr. (Nacionalista Party) has the support of at least 60 percent of the farmers. "Malapit yung kanyang plataporma dun sa mga magsasaka, sa mga problema ng magsasaka (His platform is close to the concerns of the farmers)," he said of Villar. Among NP’s senatorial candidates is Bayan Muna Rep. Satur Ocampo, whose group is backing up the ULWU that is pushing for the distribution of the 6,345-hectare plantation. Bais said administration bet Gilberto Teodoro Jr. (Lakas-Kampi-CMD) and former President Joseph Estrada (Puwersa ng Masang Pilipino) also have small followings in the community. The plantation was placed under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program's stock distribution option (SDO) scheme in 1988, during the term of President Aquino. Through this scheme, farmers got to own 33 percent of Luisita's shares of stocks while the rest are still controlled by Hacienda Luisita Inc. (HLI), whose incorporators are relatives of Mrs. Aquino. In 2005, the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) and the Presidential Agrarian Reform Council (PARC) canceled the SDO, meaning the lands would be placed under the compulsory coverage or mandated land acquisition scheme of the CARP. The HLI, however, managed to secure a temporary restraining order from the Supreme Court in 2006, preventing the DAR and PARC from carrying out their ruling. Noynoy's promise During his campaign kick-off in Tarlac in February, Aquino promised to ensure the distribution of Hacienda Luisita land to farmer-beneficiaries before June 2014, the expiration of CARP extension law, after all the plantation's debts are paid so that farmers would not be burdened financially. [See: Noynoy: Hacienda Lusita distributed to farmers by 2014] But Bais, whose group has repeatedly asked the Supreme Court to lift the TRO, said he does not expect Aquino to carry out that campaign promise. [See: Farmers formally ask SC to lift TRO on Luisita] "Hinihintay namin yan pero di namin inaasahan dahil nakikita nga namin yung pagkakautang nila, masasabi namin wala kaming pakialam diyan (We are waiting for that but we do not expect that to happen because we did not even benefit from those debts)," he said. "Nakita namin yung mga utang nila hindi naman ginamit dun sa lupain ng Hacienda Luisita kundi ginamit nila yan sa mga ibang negosyo nila (We saw that their debts were not used on Hacienda Luisita land but on their other businesses)," he claimed. Bais also dismissed Aquino's statement that the Cojuangco family is concerned about how small each farmer's land would be if the 6,435-hectare plantation would be distributed among 10,000 farmer-beneficiaries. He said farmers would be able to earn from planting sweet corn and rice even with less than a hectare of land, and that finances would not be a problem because they can seek backing from the government. Help from government "Siyempre't naririyan ang ating gobyerno, di naman natin maaalis yan. Basta dumaan ka sa proseso makakahingi ka ng subsidiya (The government is there. As long as you go through the process, you can get subsidy)," he said, adding that he and other farmers were able to secure fertilizers and irrigation assistance from government agencies and various groups. Despite these, Bais said he would welcome any dialogue with Aquino on the distribution of Luisita land. But another farmer, 70-year-old Federico "Ka Pedring" Laza, said he would rather not talk to Aquino. "Talagang ayoko, galit ako sa kanya (I do not want to. I am angry at him)," said Laza. He is the father of Jesus Laza, one of the farmers who were killed in the 2004 strike. "Ano pa yung gagawin naming pakikipagkita sa kanya? Bahala na anong mangyayari sa 'kin, laban kung laban (What good will come out of meeting with him? I don't care what will happen to me but I will fight)," he said. HLI spokesman Antonio Ligon has said the HLI with accept whatever decision Noynoy makes regarding the Cojuangcos’ controversial sugar estate if he wins as long as his decisions are in accordance with the law. [See: If elected, Noynoy's wishes will be followed] — KBK, GMANews.TV