Bishop: Aquino’s recent actions favor those in power

Recent decisions of President Benigno Aquino III have shown his preference for the powerful and not the poor, a Catholic bishop claimed. Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo said these decisions involved issues ranging from the Hacienda Luisita land dispute to the labor row at flag carrier Philippine Airlines. “There are many cases like PALEA and Luisita… they are one in favoring the rich and the powerful at the expense of the poor," said Pabillo, who chairs the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines National Secretariat for Social Action—Justice and Peace (CBCP-NASSA-JP). He was referring to the Philippine Airlines labor row with PAL Employees’ Association (PALEA) and the Luisita land dispute. Pabillo had supported the struggle of farmers to own land to till at Hacienda Luisita in Tarlac. He questioned the ruling of the Supreme Court giving the 6,296 farm-worker beneficiaries a choice between land or shares of stock in the plantation owned by the Aquino family. On the other hand, the CBCP-NASSA-JP under Pabillo had supported PALEA’s efforts to stave off PAL management’s move to spin off its non-core businesses. But earlier this month, the Executive Department thumbed down PALEA’s appeal to stop PAL from outsourcing three of its non-core departments, which may affect some 2,600 workers. — LBG, GMA News