MANILA, Philippines - More than 200 farm workers from Hacienda Luisita are set to march to President Aquino’s Times street residence and then to Malacañang today to call on the government to distribute the 6,000-hectare sugar estate owned by Aquino’s family.
“The more than one year delay in the free distribution of Hacienda Luisita adds up to the almost six decades of the Cojuangco-Aquinos’ control over the lands. Hacienda Luisita’s distribution is long overdue,†United Luisita Workers Union chairperson Lito Bais said.
The farm workers arrived in Manila yesterday and will camp out at the Department of Agrarian Reform office in Quezon City.
The DAR said it is optimistic that it will meet its self-imposed deadline of distributing the land to qualified beneficiaries in Hacienda Luisita by the middle of this year.
DAR Secretary Virgilio de los Reyes pointed out that the process of identifying the farmer-beneficiaries took up a significant amount of time and resources. They had to deploy additional personnel from various regional offices in order to check and recheck records from 23 years ago to determine who would be awarded land in Hacienda Luisita.
The DAR chief also added that since the land is the single largest private landholding to be distributed by the DAR, the survey of the area needed to be given ample time.