SC: Oral arguments on Luisita to push through despite agreement

The Supreme Court will push through with its oral arguments on the Hacienda Luisita land dispute case despite the compromise agreement reached between the sugar plantation's owners and management and its farmer-beneficiaries. “The oral arguments will proceed on August 18," said court administrator and spokesman Jose Midas Marquez at a news briefing Tuesday. Marquez said the settlement, forged Friday last week and is being contested by several farmer-beneficiaries, may be tackled in the oral arguments. Under the agreement, farmer-beneficiaries are given the option to retain their stocks in the corporation instead of getting land. More than 7,000 have reportedly opted to retain their stocks. Marquez said Hacienda Luisita Inc. will first have to submit a manifestation that a settlement has been made and that 70 percent of some 10,502 farmer-beneficiaries have chosen to keep their stocks in the corporation instead of getting land. The corporation also needs to submit copies of the compromise agreement itself, Marquez said. "Any incident concerning that case will have to be brought to the court's attention," he said. Land dispute The 6,453-hectare Haciend Luisita sugar estate in Tarlac is owned by the Cojuangcos, the family of the late President Corazon Aquino, mother of incumbent President Benigno Aquino III. In 1989, a Stock Distribution Option (SDO) was implemented to give farmer-tenants the option to get shares of stocks from the proceeds of the sugarcane plantation. Under this scheme, each of the farmers-tenants will get certificates of stocks instead of lands for them to till. But in 2005, under the Arroyo administration, the Department of the Agrarian Reform (DAR) and the Presidential Agrarian Reform Council (PARC) ordered the cancellation of the SDO scheme because it supposedly made farmers’ lives worse. It also ordered the distribution of some 4,915 hectares of land covered by the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program. To prevent the DAR and PARC from enforcing the resolution subjecting the land for distribution and canceling the SDO, HLI asked the Supreme Court to issue a temporary restraining order, which the court granted in 2006. The oral arguments scheduled on August 18 will be the first since the TRO was issued. Rival factions The agreement was signed by representatives of three farmers’ groups — the Alyansa ng mga Manggagawang Bukid ng Hacienda Luisita (AMBALA), United Luisita Workers' Union (ULWU), and the Supervisory group of Hacienda Luisita Inc. — on behalf of the beneficiaries. Despite claims that the deal was a breakthrough that could end the 20-year land dispute, peasant groups and rival factions in farmers’ groups have questioned the legality of the deal. Jobert Pahilga and Lito Bais, representatives and leaders of splinter groups of AMBALA and ULWU, respectively, denounced the deal, saying it was the Cojuangcos’ way of tightening their hold on the land. Pahilga said Noel Mallari, who signed the agreement for AMBALA, had been “ousted from the organization for acts inimical to the farm workers. He has no personality to represent the 6,000 members of AMBALA." Mallari has dismissed Pahilga's statement and insisted it was the Pahilga who did not belong to the group. No coercion Also on Tuesday, HLI spokesperson Tony Ligon said those who did not sign the compromise agreement will be notified by the corporation in the coming days. “We will first verify if those who signed are legitimate beneficiaries, and then a notice will be sent to those who were not able to participate in the referendum," he told GMANews.TV in a phone interview on Tuesday. He added that those who refuse to sign the deal after being notified “will not be forced" to choose between land and stocks. “You cannot force everyone to enter into the compromise, but we will still record the number of those who refused to sign before submitting the agreement to the Supreme Court," he said. Aquino gov’t should intervene Constitutionalist Christian Monsod meanwhile said that the hacienda’s farmer-beneficiaries are on the losing end of the deal, no matter whether they choose to own parcels of land or retain their stocks in the corporation. “Parang pinapipili sila sa bulok at sa panis (It’s like they’re being made to choose between rotten food and spoiled food)," he said in an interview aired over GMA News’ “24 Oras." Monsod likewise urged the government of President Aquino, who has shares in the corporation himself, to intervene in the case, especially now that an agreement not beneficial to the farmers has been signed. “Dapat sabihin niya, ‘Teka muna, social justice ito.’ Ibig sabihin noon, ang gobyerno ay nasa panig ng mga mahihirap (He should say, ‘Wait a minute, this is a social justice issue.’ That means, the government is on the side of the poor)," he said. “Nakakalimutan yata niya, hindi siya Cojuangco. Presidente siya (He seems to forget, he’s not a Cojuango. He’s the President)," he added. Malacañang earlier said that President Aquino welcomes the compromise agreement, but denied having a hand in the settlement.- with Andreo Calonzo/KBK/RSJ, GMANews.TV