Cojuangco firm files charges vs 9 activists

ANGELES CITY, Philippines – Charges were filed yesterday against nine activists who were arrested on Tuesday while investigating alleged irregularities in the implementation of the agrarian reform program in Hacienda Luisita in Tarlac.

The Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) said the Tarlac Development Corp. (Tadeco) owned by the Cojuangco family filed charges of illegal assembly, direct assault, trespassing, robbery, and malicious mischief against the group.

Named as respondents were Anakpawis party-list leader Danilo Ramos, Ambala acting chairperson Florida Sibayan, Angelina Nunag, Ericson Acosta, Kerima Acosta, Rene Blazan, Kala San Juan, Ronald Matthew Gustillo, and Luz Versola.

Excluded from the charges were Anakpawis party-list Rep. Fernando Hicap and Rural Missionaries of the Philippines leader Sister Patricia Fox. The two, however, refused to leave the nine activists still being held by the police.

Gerry Corpuz, spokesman for the Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya), chaired by Hicap, told The STAR that policemen “forced” the activists into a vehicle so they could be brought to the regional trial court in Tarlac City for inquest.

The KMP has accused Tadeco of land grabbing after farm workers allegedly received a “notice to vacate” barangays Cutcut and Balete, which are within the hacienda, last Aug. 30. The farm workers were allegedly told to stop planting crops and leave the land within 15 days.

Around 400 hectares in the hacienda are also being claimed by the Luisita Realty Corp., one of the nine companies under the corporate wing of Jose Cojuangco & Sons.

KMP secretary-general Antonio Flores said it was “suspicious” that Tadeco’s letter demanding the eviction of farmers coincided with the raffling of land allocation certificates to the beneficiaries.

In a letter, Pamalakaya asked Justice Secretary Leila de Lima to investigate the arrest of the activists who it said were “falsely charged.” – With Edu Punay