Palace: DAR, OSG meet over SC's Luisita ruling

The Department of Agrarian Reform and Office of Solicitor General are now discussing the government’s next move after the Supreme Court’s revocation of the stock distribution plan of Hacienda Luisita Inc. The plan was supposed to give farmers shares of stock in HLI instead of land in the sprawling Cojuangco-owned Hacienda Luisita sugar estate in Tarlac province. At a press briefing in Malacañang on Wednesday, presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said they cannot give a comment yet on the matter pending the result of the meeting between DAR and the OSG. “What I can only tell you right now is that DAR Sec. Gil de los Reyes is meeting with Solicitor General Jose Cadiz to discuss the decision, its impact, and also what course of action the government will take," he said. In the SC decision, 10 of the justices voted to uphold the order of the Presidential Agrarian Reform Council (PARC) in 2005 to revoke the SDP. However, there was disagreement among the justices regarding the disposition of the Hacienda Luisita estate - with six favoring a new referendum and four voting for the distribution of land to the farmers instead of a new referendum. The estate is owned by the family of President Benigno Aquino III. “We would like to leave the decision as it is," Lacierda said on Wednesday. “We will not make any comment on the decision or, for that matter, inform you what course of action we are taking because they’re still meeting right now." - Amita O. Legaspi/KBK, GMA News