'Farmers covered by SC ruling on Luisita should return shares'

Manila, Philippines -  The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) said the farmers qualified to own lands in Hacienda Luisita would have to return their shares to Hacienda Luisita Inc. (HLI) while the shares of those not covered by the Supreme Court (SC) ruling would remain with them.

DAR Secretary Virgilio de los Reyes said that based on the SC directive, the 6,296 farm workers of HLI at the time the stock distribution plan (SDP) was approved would have to surrender their shares to HLI management.

“On the other hand, the 4,206 farm workers of HLI who became stock holders after the SDP was approved but were not covered by the final SC order on Hacienda Luisita will remain shareholders,” the DAR chief noted.

Under the SDP, workers obtained shares of stock in the company instead of individual titles to the hacienda land.

It was on August 2010 when the hacienda announced a “compromise agreement” under which the more than 10,000 farmer-beneficiaries were allowed to choose whether to retain their shares under the SDP or surrender these in exchange for land.

The settlement was quickly implemented by HLI with many farmworker-beneficiaries given cash benefits in exchange for giving up their claims to receive land titles.

The agency said it is optimistic that the land distribution of Hacienda Luisita to rightful farmworker-beneficiaries can be completed within six to 12 months.

De los Reyes added they are confident that the task of land distribution would be accomplished on time since they expect only a few farmers might raise complaints on the matter.

The DAR has already identified 200 employees who will be in charge of the information campaign and other tasks related to validating farmworker-beneficiaries qualified to own land in Hacienda Luisita.