Luisita lawyer: SC's call for referendum ‘realistic’

The Supreme Court (SC) made a "realistic" decision when it let farmers from the Cojuangco-owned Hacienda Luisita in Tarlac decide if they will opt for shares of stocks or parcels of land, a lawyer representing the estate said Wednesday. Lawyer Gener Asuncion, counsel for the Hacienda Luisita Inc. (HLI), said the high court’s ruling on the case affirmed what their camp has been working for in the past years. "I would consider that decision of the SC as quite realistic in so far as that referendum is concerned because HLI has been thriving and walking for that referendum," he told GMA News TV’s "News To Go" anchor Howie Severino in an interview on Wednesday. He recalled how the HLI supported two similar referenda in 1989 and last year — where majority of sugar plantation’s farmer-beneficiaries chose stocks over land.

Asuncion, however, said that farmers who will choose to own land during the new referendum to be facilitated by the Department of Agrarian Reform may face a problem with agricultural productivity. "The land area that will be distributed to each beneficiary will not be agriculturally productive. The area is a sugar cane plantation. The soil has been examined and subjected to lab tests, and it has been found that it is not suitable for any other crop," he said. He added that the SC decision may already put an end to the Luisita issue, which has been around for more than two decades. The SC on Tuesday affirmed the revocation of the stock distribution plan that gave Luisita farmers shares of stock in (HLI) instead of actual land in the sprawling sugar estate. The high court also voted to call for a new referendum to give farmers the choice between stocks or land. Cojuangcos got what they wanted On the other hand, lawyer Jobert Pahilga, counsel for farmer groups Alyansa ng mga Manggagawang Bukid ng Hacienda Luisita (AMBALA) and United Luisita Workers Union (ULWU), said the high court’s ruling "disappointing" since it essentially gave the estate’s owners what they wanted. "Yung referendum per se, ‘yun na ‘yung tinutulak ng HLI na nakita natin noong August last year. Essentially, parehong pareho ang ginawa ng Korte Suprema sa hiniling ng mga Cojuangco," he said in a separate interview. He added that the SC sided with the Cojuangcos in its ruling, despite the fact that the farmer-beneficiaries were the aggrieved party in the case. "Ang sinasabi ng mga manggagawang bukid ng Hacienda Luisita, kami na nga naagrabyado rito, bakit hindi niyo kami kinatigan? Titingnan nyo pa ‘yung mga Cojuangco ay maiinjure o magkakaroon ng irreparable injury kung ibibigay ‘yung lupa sa mga magsasaka," he said. Pahilga earlier said that their camp will ask the SC to reconsider its ruling on the case and to order instead the distribution of actual land to the farmers. — Andreo Calonzo/RSJ, GMA News