Farmers picket near SC, protest stock distribution option

The farm workers of Hacienda Luisita staged a picket on Wednesday near the Supreme Court (SC), hours before it hears the oral arguments on the legality of the stock distribution option (SDO), an agreement that farmer beneficiaries entered into with Hacienda Luisita Inc. (HLI) and the Tarlac Development Co. (TADECO) in May 1989. Hacienda Luisita, a 6,543-hectare sugar plantation, is owned by the Cojuangcos, family of former President Corazon Aquino, mother of incumbent President Benigno Aquino III, who has taken a hands-off stance on the land dispute despite criticisms that he should not turn a blind eye on the fate of the farmers. The farrmers were from factions of the Alyansa ng mga Manggagawang Bukid ng Hacienda Luisita (AMBALA) and the United Luisita Workers Union (ULWU). The splinter groups are against the SDO scheme and are for land distribution. They were joined by militant groups Bagong Alyansang Makabayan, Karapatan, Migrante International, among others. The Hacienda Luisita farmers also protested the Aug. 6, 2010 compromise deal with HLI, which allowed them to retain their stocks or to get their share in the sugar plantation in Tarlac. Of the 10,502 Luisita farmer beneficiaries, 7,302 voted for SDO, while only 139 picked land distribution.

Maximo Sebastian, a 72-year-old farmer who opted to remain under the SDO scheme, said the Hacienda Luisita management did not adequately inform them about the consequences of picking stocks in favor of land. "Ang sinabi lang sa amin ng Hacienda Luisita, pumirma kami para makuha namin ang pera namin. Basta iyon lang ang sinabi," said Sebastian, who received P4,834.64 of the P20-million "good will" money HLI distributed last week. The amount he received is corresponding to the more tha 28,000 stock dividends he owns in the corporation. However, Sebastian is among the fortunate ones. Farmer Andy Andaya received only P1.35 for the four stock dividends he owned. During the protest, the farmers bore placards saying the SDO scheme only made them poorer. Nestor Cunanan, 35, said he went to the Supreme Court to fight for his rights to get his land. "Na-andito ako para iharap ang karapatan ko," said Cunanan, one of the 139 farmers who voted for land distribution. Hacienda Luisita massacre The protest action on Wednesday likewise called for justice for victims of the Hacienda Luisita massacre, the violence that stemmed from the farmers' protest in 2004. In October that year, the Hacienda Luisita management retrenched 327 farm workers, including union officers. The following month, on Nov. 6, 2004, thousands of ULWU workers staged a strike at the hacienda to protest the mass retrenchment. Violence erupted 10 days later, when protesters and security forces clashed. Seven farmers were killed in what has gone down in history as the Hacienda Luisita massacre. (See: How a workers' strike became the Luisita Massacre) On Wednesday, the farmers bore placards showing the faces of the victims. They also carried placards carrying blood-stained yellow ribbons. The ribbons were the campaign symbol of Cory and her son, Noynoy. What is the SDO? The oral arguments for the Hacienda Luisita case will be the first since the 21-year-old land dispute was brought to the Supreme Court's doorstep in 2006. The event will begin at 2 p.m. As of 11 a.m., security was tight at the court's vicinity along Padre Faura Street in Manila. Policemen only allowed farmers to stage their protest at Padre Faura corner Taft Avenue. The arguments will focus mainly on the validity of the May 1989 stock distribution option agreement. However, the court may also hear the arguments for the Aug. 6, 2010 compromise deal, which has been criticized as bogus and and a disservice to farmers. (See: Luisita case in SC to focus on 1989 farmers' stock option) More than two decades ago, the Hacienda Luisita sugar estate was earmarked for land reform on the basis of the 1988 Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law. In 1989, however, the SDO was implemented, which gave farmer-tenants the alternative option of getting shares of stock from the corporation that owned the estate. Under this scheme, each of the farmer-tenants received certificates of stocks from HLI instead of parcels of land for them to own and till. In 2005, under the Arroyo administration, the PARC issued a resolution ordering the cancellation of the SDO scheme on the premise that it 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, HLI asked the Supreme Court to issue a temporary restraining order, which the court granted in 2006. The TRO remains in effect to this day, which has the effect of keeping the SDO scheme in force until the SC rules otherwise. — RSJ, GMANews.TV