Footnote in history

Last October 18, the Luisita story finally came to an end when the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) completed the distribution of certificates of land ownership award (CLOAs) to the farmers.

Some people may have their misgivings about President Noynoy Aquino but we have to give it to him that he did not use his powers to prevent the distribution of lands covered by the family-owned estate. Even at the risk of isolating himself from his hard-core relatives, the President made sure that he will not be an impediment to the distribution being completed.

We know that Luisita has become a symbol for agrarian reform in this country so those groups, including the Alyansa ng Manggagawang Bukid sa Luisita or AMBALA, that have been riding on it for years now better look for a new cause to espouse.

AMBALA is expected to once again make noise on the 9th anniversary of that unfortunate event on Nov. 16, 2004 when several protesters were killed at one of the gates of Luisita after being incited to violence by apparent agitators within their ranks.

But that tragedy would just be a footnote in history as land distribution has already been accomplished at Luisita, in line with a final ruling by the Supreme Court.

DAR’s distribution of the CLOAs to some 6,000 farmers meant that the latter now get to own the land they have been tilling before 1989 when the stock distribution option (SDO) shot down by the SC first took effect.

Farmers who came in after 1989 are not entitled to land ownership although they will remain as stockholders of Hacienda Luisita, Inc.

The only thing left to be done is for the DAR to install the markers delineating the farmers’ individual lots so they may already start planting in the next season, and for the government to pay just compensation to the Cojuangcos as mandated by law and long-settled jurisprudence.

Many of the farmers had been interviewed in media and most were brimming with high hopes that they’d improve their status in life as farmer-landowners. They also see no problem paying off the low mortgage in the long repayment period of 30 years set by DAR and Land Bank of the Philippines.

What’s  clear is that only small groups like AMBALA are trying mighty hard to stop land distribution in Luisita through dilatory legal moves and by making wild claims, including AMBALA’s most recent about the alleged murder of its purported leader, one Dennis Cayabyab dela Cruz.

As it turned out, as narrated by a witness and as borne out by the investigation of the Tarlac police, dela Cruz died in a freak accident when a leaning electrical post weakened by typhoon Santi fell on him as he was removing its steel pin.

What was Dela Cruz’s business removing metal cabling from a post (SOCO photos show him in rigor mortis still holding the cable) is anybody’s guest, but the testimony of the tricycle driver who witnessed the accident and the evidence surely belie AMBALA’s claim that dela Cruz was murdered.

Anyway, the rubbish which AMBALA was able to feed two dailies regarding dela Cruz’s alleged murder only confirmed this group’s penchant for disinformation and making false claims even before the Supreme Court where it tried but failed to stop the land distribution at Luisita now being implemented by DAR.

AMBALA misled the SC when it claimed to represent 80 percent or about 5,400 farmers of Luisita when a check by the DAR officer named Engr. Emmanuel Aguinaldo proved that AMBALA only represented three percent of the land claimants.

Even the less than 200 members of AMBALA received from the DAR lot allocation certificates, thereby showing they do not support AMBALA’s refusal to participate in the land distribution process. Likewise, AMBALA was found to have only been incorporated on May 25, 2012, thereby it had no legal personality whatsoever to be filing petitions on the Luisita case as early as December 2004.

What these tell us is that AMBALA has been misrepresenting Luisita farmers for years now to promote its own agenda which, according to some sources, include representing fake land claimants for a fee.

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