100 Luisita farmers storm DAR

MANILA, Philippines - Around 100 Hacienda Luisita farmers forced their way into the compound of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) in Quezon City yesterday, the second anniversary of the Supreme Court (SC) decision ordering the distribution of Hacienda Luisita.

The farmers, some of them members of Ambala or Alyansa ng mga Manggagawang Bukid sa Asyenda Luisita, are demanding the complete distribution of Hacienda Luisita.

DAR Secretary Virgilio de los Reyes said the more than 300 hectares that have not yet been distributed to farmers were issued a Notice of Coverage as of December last year.

However, Tarlac Development Corp. or TADECO is reportedly opposed to its distribution, saying that the particular area has been classified as commercial-residential.

“The matter is still being heard here at the DAR,” said De los Reyes in an interview over GMA-7.

Renato Mendoza of Ambala said buildings are already being constructed in the area.

Earlier, the militant group Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) said that two years after the SC decision ordering the distribution of Hacienda Luisita, President Aquino’s relatives – the Cojuangcos of Tarlac province – still control the more than 6,000-hectare sugar estate.

“Control over the lands remains with the Cojuangcos despite the government’s payment of almost P500 million,” said KMP chairperson Rafael Mariano.

Meanwhile, DAR Undersecretary for Legal Affairs Anthony Parungao reported that there were indeed parts of the Hacienda owned by TADECO, not by Hacienda Luisita Inc., that are not covered by the SC decision.

The TADECO lands are being processed under rules and laws pertaining to land acquisition and distribution of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program or CARP, he said.

Parungao said that the processing will be subject to the general rules under the CARP law (Republic Act 6657, as amended), and not the principles laid down by the Supreme Court in the Hacienda Luisita case.

Parungao also clarified that the SC decision to distribute the land of the Hacienda Luisita estate did not favor any single group, even as it belied claims by the Unyon ng Manggagawa sa Agrikultura that the decision was solely in favor of the Ambala.

He said that the SC decision was clear in ordering the distribution of the land to farmer-beneficiaries that meet the requirements or criteria it had set in its landmark decision.

The official added that SC had ordered the DAR to distribute land to farmworkers of the hacienda in 1989, which the department painstakingly followed.