MISSING THE POINT ON LUISITA CONTROVERSY?

It is not strange for another Cojuangco to stand-up for the revered “familial name” against a snowball of criticism about the decades-long Hacienda Luisita controversy. Liberal Party (LP) presidential candidate – Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino is simply living up to the standards of his clan, which normally includes “turf protection” and “asset-clinging” with utter abuse of authority. They remain defensive on the accounts of Luisita division as they intend to continue their control over the 4,000 hectare sugar farm land. The way Aquino defended his cousin, Fernando Cojuangco, the chief operating officer of the holding company that owns the Luisita plantation, is reason enough for voters to think twice on his offered “reformed administration”.

Noynoy is on complete defensive mode when it comes to his clan’s entanglements with azucarera. And the way he belied and accused the New York Times of misquoting his cousin on a remark that the Cojuangcos have no intention of giving-up Luisita is one proof of his undoubtedly biased judgment over Luisita. After being elected in Congress and actually gaining the authority to help dismiss Luisita farmers’ 46-year old lamentations and grief, Noynoy surely ignored good governance and stayed quiet with tail bended down on the affairs between the Tarlac farmers and his clan. The 2004 Luisita massacre is enough proof of Noynoy’s political prejudice.

The controversial Luisita azucarera operated by the Hacienda Luisita Inc. (HLI) and the Central Azucarera de Tarlac (CAT) was legally bounded to be distributed to its farm workers as part of the implementation of the former Department of Agrarian Reform’s (DAR) ruling. Records show from the Manila RTC that the late Don Jose Cojuangco purchased Luisita on March 31, 1958 with the help of loaned government funds from the Central Bank of the Philippines (CBP) and the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS). Part of the said negotiation was Don Jose’s agreement to distribute the land to his farmers pursuant to the Marcos government’s social justice program. However, Don Jose held back on his end of the bargain on claims that there were no tenants inside the azucarera. Ten years later, CBP released an inquiry that lambasted Don Jose’s earlier claims that also stunned the public. On said report, there were about 100,000 residents in the 10 barrios making-up the entire hacienda; and that this overwhelming population is under Tadeco’s payroll.

In 1980, the government almost succeeded in pushing Tadeco management to honor its 1958 agreement with CBP and GSIS. The Ministry of Agrarian Reform (now DAR) was even tasked to overlook the manner of Hacienda Luisita’s division or distribution to the azucarera farmers. But this was short-lived as Pres. Cory Aquino took office and implemented the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP). CARP actually stalled the land-distribution by turning its farm workers into stockholders or co-owners of the azucarera turned corporation – Hacienda Luisita Inc. Instead of land, Cojuangco gave them shared capita, which now faces bankruptcy as stressed by Noynoy.

The Cojuangcos practically soiled the original Hacienda Luisita agreement and exploited the land till it became entirely useless. All their farmers were duped with no peso or land to their name despite their numerous land reform agreements. That is point fact. Noynoy being overprotective of the Cojuangcos “good name” makes him no less than part of the pack of Cojuangco wolves out to protect their estates like true blue capitalist.

LP BENT-DOWN ON SWS?“ Politicking Reckons TRAPOs”

“Learning lessons the hard way” best fits the major blunder Sen. Noynoy Aquino committed when he wrote his apologies to the Social Weather Station (SWS) higher ups after he made bold statements about survey predictions easily bought along corners of Quiapo. But the letter came weeks late and the damage was already been done. Besides, who in their right mind would believe that Sen. Noynoy was referring to other survey outfits when he is obviously pissed about the 11% mark-down on opponent Sen. Manuel Villar’s sponsored SWS presidential tally? LP was frantic about their dropping lead against Villar that caught Noynoy squeaking “foul play” and ditching SWS altogether. These are facts but LP, especially Aquino is trying to warp it point blank.

LP kneeling on its knees to claim back SWS’ favor is a glimpse of how Aquino’s supposed administration would be like; a weakling that lip-serves. Quite frankly, some have grown to think that Noynoy finally made a man out of himself as he lambasted SWS as a “cheap” source of immaterial “numbers”. The first time Noynoy made a bold statement by himself that he yet again “regrets” with his “sorry correspondence”. Well, can we really blame him? He was clearly making a joke of himself when he brushed aside SWS as if it were an empty can on his trail. The SWS which catered all of the surveys that he topped for months surely deserved better than being whipped and criticized.

Numbers do get a good hold of the public’s attention and this sticks far from being a superficial propaganda. LP knows this quite well but was unable to brief their presidential bet. Aquino, ignorantly declared in public that surveys could easily be manipulated with the right amount of money; saving the public from proving whether LP’s lead is rather a work of yet another wealthy manipulator. Truly, a good fish is best caught by its mouth wide open. Unfortunately, this seemingly insensitive solon is boldly seeking the presidency using only his family name.

Sadly, this apologetic letter have already worn-out his welcome not on the SWS per se but the public who have already branded the survey outfit as biased and nothing less than a business enterprise making profit out of the forthcoming elections. Aquino has successfully spoiled his month-long lead and the masses would not be too naïve to give SWS a chance to redeem itself, all thanks to the doing of their major client –LP.

Others say, if only LP and SWS have played it smart and actually briefed Noynoy of the loose ties inside the deals the entire misunderstanding would have been avoided. Hopefully, their oversight was a huge help to the public who actually have faith on the standards of the SWS.

SURVEYS ARE NOT FOR REAL

Oh yes! They are not true and valid at all as Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III says that there are surveys that can be brought in Quiapo. This is the reply given by the Liberal Party’s standard-bearer when asked about his declining numbers compared to the surging ratings by other presidential candidates in a forum held last January 09, 2010 at De La Salle-Zobel School in Ayala Alabang Village, Muntinlupa. He also insists that there are credible surveys where presumably he is the top choice among the presidential candidates. Along with Aquino were Nacionalista Party’s standard-bearer Sen. Manny Villar, Bagumbayan Party’s presidential bet Sen. Richard Gordon and former Department of Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro of LAKAS-KAMPI-CMD.

Obviously, the forums had greatly affected the voter’s perception as the survey results are still up for change. Popularity should not be part of the qualities taken into consideration in choosing a candidate. The presidency is not an heirloom that can be passed from generation to another or something that you can buy from the grocery. Knowledge and intelligence should also be considered to be able to lead the nation and its people.

The result of the surveys for the past months showed Aquino being number one consistently. Aquino’s rank was constant since his declaration to run for the presidential race. It was noted that the highest rating gained by Aquino was immediately after the death and burial of his mother, former President Corazon Aquino. He firmly believes that Filipinos would support him as much as they supported his parents. However, his ratings started to decline as the emotional support and the so-called “Cory’s magic” started to fade off, which is already expected by his campaign managers and political backers.

Noynoy’s political career is way behind other candidates. Villar and Gordon are trying to make the public see that Aquino has not done anything worthy as a legislator. Though the race is tough, each presidentiable has a tactic to achieve their goal of the presidency. They should prove themselves through their works and achievements rather than sticking with the family’s legacy or using their wealth for campaign ads.

It does not follow that the child of a former president would and should be one also. President Diosdado Macapagal as revered during his term while her daughter, President Gloria, went through public criticism all throughout hers. In the same manner, Noynoy being the son of Ninoy and Cory alone does not automatically make him a fit president. Show us what you got, good senator then maybe, we would know for ourselves whether those surveys are indeed real or not.

NOYNOY’S HYPOCRISY

It is finally out of the bag. Senator and presidential wannabe Benigno Aquino III or Noynoy is a highly experienced hypocrite. His impromptu retort to a question posed during a presidential debate on January 9, 2010 at the Dela Salle Santiago Zobel School in Muntinlupa City Zobel revealed this much and only emphasizes this conclusion.

In a nutshell, Noynoy has this to say during the debate: if survey results favor his candidacy – with him leading the pack of presidentiables - then the polling organization that released the report is credible, but if survey results prove otherwise – showing a decline in his number – then the survey firm is a fly-by-night company and any report published by it should be shot down entirely by the voting public.

Is this just hypocrisy or simply self-serving politics that is being exercised and proven by Senator Noynoy? His inability to police even his own remarks, that is, even to merely appear as a likeable candidate which is normally expected from any traditional politician does prove that although he may not be lying, he lacks civility when caught unaware by the public. Worse, this also proves that he really is a neophyte politician who is not ready to take on the more tasking responsibility of leading the country.

In his speeches and political ads, we more or less often just hear Senator Noynoy exalting the achievements of his parents, using this to remind us all that without his parents there will be no democracy to speak of. We have already honored – and quite expansively – both Ninoy and President Cory Aquino for their catalyst roles, but enough is enough.

Noynoy should not insistently use the legacy of his parents’ name to gain our votes. Just like any politician who would want to prove himself to the public, he too should enumerate his political achievements, that is, if he has them.

I DON’T STEAL, ASK MOMMY?

As the 2010 election nears, voters scram in search for good candidates. This is where the “early politicking” actually makes sense. This is the time where claimed “infomercials” sounds more like “vote for me”. Frankly speaking, these premature campaigning serves its purpose in giving the public just the right idea to whom they should cast their votes, which unfortunately is to the less sounding “few”.

Arguably, the public should change its standard of who is “saint” or “sinner”, because it is not as simple as looking at the candidates’ last name that either rings good or riddled with controversy. For one, parentage does not guarantee anything. Sons or daughters do not live the lives of their parents nor do they inherit morality; genes have nothing to do with it. Leadership is never a privilege in a state where democracy reigns. Luck cannot be used as an excuse to force leadership in Malacañang.

If we are concerned with presenting facts and having someone as transparent as water to manage this country, why not start with the open secret that all these presidentiables cheated the law against premature campaigning by way of making “infomercials”; the son of our beloved EDSA-I heroine included. The smiles, the reform chitchats are proof of how dishonest they could be when it comes to pursuing political goals; preserving familial integrity did not stop either of them. Change should have been started with “abiding by the law” and not exploiting it for political advantage. Where is morality or honesty when one is already cheating the law at this point in time? What else would they bend when they are given much more power?

I pity hopefuls who use their comfortable family blankets. But then I was wrong. Presidentiables who like to live on a dream of being a saint amidst his wicked gimmicks does not deserve public sympathy. It is the people he unfortunately enticed to sanctify him that deserve empathy. If they are foolish enough to believe that honesty is inherited or bought by those multi-million PR financiers, then they will soon see how it will backfire to a serious state threat. The moment we swallow their infomercials/electioneering ads we are giving away our chances to actually vote for an honest state executive. The damage has already been done and the stench of politicking is already out but we choose not to see.

What is worse is when these presidentiables try to laundry out their names and act as if they are to the point of sainthood. They are hypocrites hoping to gag us up with nothing but propaganda. This writer would like to think we, Filipinos, are better than that.

NOYNOY PINATUNAYAN NA NAMAMANIPULA ANG SURVEYS

Mismong kampo na ni Senador Noynoy Aquino ang umamin na namamanipula nga ang resulta ng mga surveys na naglilipana ngayong papalapit na ang eleksyon. Marahil ang kanilang pahayag ay bunsod ng naulinigan natin mula sa isang mapagkakatiwalaang impormante na ang partido Liberal ay minsan na ngang nagbayad o mas kilala sa tawag na nag-commission ng isang survey firm upang magpalabas ng paborableng survey result patungkol sa kandidatura ng nasabing senador.

Dahil na rin sa kapusukan nito - ang pagbibitiw ng salita bago mag-isip – ay nahuli tuloy si Senador Noynoy na sila nga ay naglulunsad ng isang tinatawag na “mind conditioning” o ang pagkondisyon ng pananaw ng publiko sa pamamagitan ng pagbabayad sa ligal na raket tulad ng SWS o Pulse Asia. Napag-alaman na ang paglalabas ng survey - sa pamamagitan ng isang public relation firm na binayaran ng kampo ng Liberal Party - ay umiikot sa isang stratehiya kung saan ito ay makakapagpalabas ng isang paborableng senaryo na direktang ma-iimpluwensiyahan ang opinion o di kaya ang magiging desisyon ng mga botante sa padating na eleksyon.

Ang sinasabing stratehiya ay ang pagpapalabas ng isang survey patungkol sa performance ng kasalukuyang administrasyon na diumano’y may mababang grado bago ang paglabas ng survey na may paborableng resulta patungkol kay Senador Noynoy. Sa ganitong paraan ay na-diktahan na ng kampo Liberal ang taong bayan na si Noynoy lamang ang gusto ng publikong maging susunod na pangulo ng bansa at ang kandidatong sinusuportahan ng kasalukuyang administrasyon ay hindi makakapagdulot ng mabuti sa bayan. Hindi ba’t ilang beses na nating nasaksihan ang ganitong senaryo sa mga nagdaang lumabas na surveys kung kaya’t masasabi nating totoo nga ang nakuha nating impormasyon?

Sa ganitong paraan ay naibababa na ng LP ang posibilidad na makalikom ng sapat na boto ang karibal ng kanilang manok dahil nakondisyon na nila ang utak ng publiko na ang 90 milyong Pilipino ay pabor kay Noynoy. Hindi ba’t matatawag na isang pandaraya ang ganitong gawain dahil hindi naman repleksyon ng tunay na sitwasyon ang isang survey? Hindi ba’t mismong si dating Senador Franklin Drilon ang nagsabi na nababayaran nga ang surveys upang magbigay ng resulta na aayon sa tao o kampo na nagbayad dito? Ang nakakalungkot, marami sa ating kababayan ang talaga namang na-iimpluwensyahan ng ganitong mga palabas at nakiki-uso lamang sa pagboto ng susunod nilang lider ng bansa kung kaya’t talagang kaliwa’t-kanang surveys ang pinapalabas ngayon ng iba’t-ibang mga presidentiables. Kung sino ang may bentahe sa lumabas na survey ay paniguradong siya ang nagbayad ng survey. Ito ang masaklap na katotohonan sa ating bansa kung kaya’t marami ngayon sa ating mga kababayan ang humihingi na ipatigil ang ganitong mga gawain tuwing eleksyon dahil ito lamang ay pailalim na pagdidikta sa mga botante.

NOYNOY NANGDADAYA SA MGA DEBATE

Marahil marami sa mga kababayan natin na sumubaybay sa isang presidential forum noong Disyembre 2 ang nakapansin kung kaya’t laman ngayon ng lumalakas na “hate campaign” ang bagitong senador na si Noynoy Aquino. Mahahalata na tila may binabasa si Noynoy sa mga unang sagot nito sa naganap na “Harapan: The ANC Presidential Forum” na dinaos sa auditorium ng University of Sto Tomas sa Maynila. Ito ay live na napanood ng milyon-milyong tao sa bansa. Kabilang sa forum ay ang anim pang presidentiables tulad nila dating Pangulong Joseph Estrada, Senador Richard Gordon, dating Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro, lider ng JIL na si Bro. Eddie Villanueva, dating Angeles City Councilor JC De Los Reyes at ang environmentalist na si Nicanor Perlas.

Sa nasabing debate ay kapansin-pansin ang pagbabago kay Senador Noynoy. Kung dati halatang nangangapa sa mga sasabihin tuwing natatanong sa kaniyang plataporma at tungkol sa mga kontrobersyal na isyu tulad ng ating nasaksihan sa “Isang Tanong, Isang Sagot” ng GMA7, sa forum ng ABS-CBN ay mistulang walang magagawang kamalian ang senador. Lahat ng tanong ay nasasagot niya ng maayos sa loob ng dalawang minuto na inilaan para sa bawat kandidato. Ilang araw lamang ang pagitan ng dalawang forums ngunit kapansin-pansin ang pagbabago ni Noynoy kung kaya’t marami ang nagsabi na ito ay binigyan ng talaan ng mga tanong ilang araw bago maganap ang forum kaya’t siya ay nakapaghanda ng mga sagot.

Usap-usapan na kung ang resulta ng survey ay naluluto nila para sa kanilang bentahe, sa pamamagitan ng kaniyang kamag-anak na si Rapa Lopa na may mataas na posisyon sa Pulse Asia, ay hindi malayong mangyari na naluto din ang forum dahil nabigyan din si Noynoy ng mga questions sa pamamagitan naman ng kaniyang kapatid na kilalang personalidad sa kumpanya ng ABS-CBN. Alam din ng taong bayan na masugid na taga-suporta ni Senador Noynoy ang mga liderato ng naturang network kung kaya’t mas nabibigyan ito ng mas malawak na coverage sa mga pag-iikot na ginagawa nito.

Hindi lamang sa forum ng GMA7 nagkalat si Noynoy. Minsan na niyang napatunayan na ginagamit lamang niya ang iniwan ng kaniyang mga magulang na legacy upang makuha ang simpatiya at boto ng tao sa inilunsad na forum ng Institute of Popular Democracy na tinawag na “Face to Face: 100 Local Government Champions vs. 4 Presidential Contenders”. Sa nasabing debate, paligoy-ligoy lamang ang kaniyang mga sagot sa mga katanungang binabato sa kaniya ngunit hindi nito direktang nasasagot ang mga isyu. Para sa lahat ng presidentiables lalo na kay Noynoy, ito ang mensahe ng bayan: bukod sa tinatawag na compassion para sa pagbabago ay dapat patunayan ng mga kandidato na sila ay may intelektwal na kakayahan upang mamuno sa bansa. Hindi madadala ang lahat sa karunungan sa english bagkus ay dapat malawak ang kaniyang kaalaman sa mga problemang bumabalot sa ating lipunan at kung paano ito mabibigyang solusyon. Kailangan ang taong marunong umaksyon at hindi nakasandal sa kakayahan ng ibang tao.

COJUANGCO PHANTOMS HUNT THE PRESIDENCY

The Cojuangco owned Hacienda Luisita in Tarlac costs more than a huge sum of money. It actually bartered poor farmers’ lives and a truckload of “elitist” injustice. The 6,400 hectare land that the Cojuangco’s hold on to with fangs and claws simply represent the adversity of servitude and the rich’s monopoly of influence. And this unlikely Juan dela Cruz tragic drama will persist just as another Cojuangco heir is eyeing the presidency.

No one is absolutely clean of partisanship and misuse of authority in the Philippine political arena. Unfortunately, the long list of presidents we have had to deal with their own horrors and Achilles’ heel. For one, Martial law had nailed former Pres. Ferdinand Marcos’ administration despite the grandness of the Philippine economy in the 1970s. His dictatorship and iron-fist rule lingered more on Filipinos’ consciousness other than his build-up fiscal progress. Most say, Juan preferred the “doughnut hole” other than Marcos’ offered “progress”. On the other hand, the phantoms of Hacienda Luisita haunted Pres. Corazon Aquino’s rise to power. The heroine of EDSA-1 have had her fair share of public’s disfavor when the celebrated government case against the despotic “landlordship” of the Cojuangco’s took a dubious turn in favor of the then Pres. Aquino’s kin.

In an interview of Former MAR or Ministry of Agrarian Reform (now Department of Agrarian Reform) official, Jose Santos in the alternative paper-Bulatlat, he affirmed that Don Jose Cojuangco’s deal with the government about half a decade ago binds the “azucarera” to a supposedly irrevocable deal among its tenants. In particular, the GSIS approved 5.9 million peso loan of Don Jose that was used to purchase Hacienda Luisita incorporated a condition that the estate would then be subdivided among its tenants. Around 4,000 hectares should have been legally apportioned to the Luisita’s farmers. But just as the MAR’s case take a winning toll against the Cojuangco’s, Pres. Cory ascended in Malacañang and actually had a revamp of MAR officials to include the appointment of Sedfrey Ordoñez as Solicitor General. Ordoñez served as the Cojuangco’s legal counsel in the controversial Hacienda Luisita legal thug. And as expected, when he assumed into MAR (DAR) the winnable case of the government against the Cojuangco’s littered.

Most admires Pres. Aquino’s descent to power. The widow of another Martial Law hero- Sen. Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino was elemental in putting an end to the 20-year totalitarian rule of Marcos. Sad to say, the victory of EDSA People Power was boxed on the Pres. Cory and that this was further exploited by the Cojuangco to undermine the biddings of the law. The creation of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program or (CARP) was the ironic tool used by the Cojuangco’s to trash out Luisita farmer’s rights. This is one cruel truth of “omnipotent power” manhandling the weak but paid much interest.

And just as CARP faces its end after a twin decade of prostituting the poor Luisita tenants’ rights, another Cojuangco claims the presidential throne. Expectedly, another injustice is cooked-up. Maybe, a resurrected CARP would again haunt the victims of Luisita. And if I may say, we are partly to blame for the discrete crimes of Cojuangcos.

Hacienda Luisita Belongs to Cojuangco Tenants, Ex-DAR Exec Says

Hacienda Luisita workers
in a mass action for land,
just wages, and rights

Photo by Dabet Castañeda

Hacienda Luisita Belongs to Cojuangco Tenants, Ex-DAR Exec Says
In a deal with government funders 46 years ago, Don Jose Cojuangco pledged to distribute the land now occupied by Hacienda Luisita to tenant farmers. A former director of the Department of Agrarian Reform says a court order binds the Cojuangcos to do so.

By Dabet Castañeda
Bulatlat

http://www.bulatlat.com/news/4-42/4-42-tenants.html

The Cojuangco family, owners of the embattled Hacienda Luisita, Inc. (HLI) and the Central Azucarera de Tarlac (CAT), is legally bound to distribute the 4,000-hectare land to the sugar farm workers of the plantation, a former Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) director said. The 4,000 hectares are what is left of the 6,400-hectare plantation estate whose 2,400-ha portion is said to have been earmarked as “homelots” for the HLI’s “shareholders.”
 

The former DAR official, Jose Santos, is one of government lawyers who on April 18, 1980 assisted Solicitor General Estelito Mendoza in filing Civil Case No. 131654 at the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Manila, Branch XLIII against the Tarlac Development Corporation (Tadeco), the former company name of HLI and CAT.

Santos, who is now retired, is known to his colleagues to be an expert in handling big land disputes during his tenure at the government’s agrarian agency then known as the Ministry of Agrarian Reform (MAR). He worked there as director of the Bureau of Agrarian Legal Assistance (BALA).

In an exclusive interview with Bulatlat last week, Santos said he is breaking his silence to shed light on what actually transpired since 1958 when the late Cojuangco patriarch, Don Jose, acquired the hacienda. He also recalled the conditions on why Don Jose Cojuangco was able to do so, and the court case which government won over the family that legally binds them to distribute land to the hacienda’s tillers. 

Acquisition
Court records from the Manila RTC show that Don Jose was able to purchase Tadeco on March 31, 1958 using government funds from two agencies, the Central Bank of the Philippines (CBP) and the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS). The CBP, under Monetary Board Resolution No. 1240, granted a loan of US $2,128,480 to Don Jose on the condition that the latter would also buy the Hacienda Luisita sugar plantation. The patriarch’s original plan was to only purchase the sugar mill. As part of the condition, the hacienda is to be distributed to small farmers in line with the administration’s social justice program, Santos recalls.

But since the dollar loan was not enough to purchase both the sugar mill and the plantation, Don Jose again applied for a loan with the GSIS, court records show. The GSIS Board of Trustees, through Resolution No. 3202 approved the sum of P5.9 million in loan for the purchase of the 6,400-hectare Hacienda Luisita on the condition, among others, that the estate should be subdivided among tenants who shall pay the cost under “reasonable terms and conditions.“

Inquiry
In 1967, Conrado Estrella of the now defunct Land Authority inquired in writing with the Tadeco owner whether he has complied with the conditions set by the CBP and GSIS, citing in particular the distribution of the land among its tillers. Don Jose answered that when his group took over the hacienda, they found no tenants and that they had to begin operating the hacienda by hiring farm workers.

Ten years later, the CBP made a similar inquiry with the heirs of Don Jose, who by then had died. In March 1978, the Evening Post daily reported that about 100,000 residents of the 10 barrios comprising the hacienda filed a petition demanding the expropriation of the hacienda and its distribution to small farmers. 

Consequently in May of the same year, MAR officials made their own inquiry into the case. Tadeco vice-president Demetria Cojuangco replied that the condition with regards the land distribution could not be enforced.

Case
In 1980, Santos recalls, he assisted Solicitor General Mendoza in filing a case against the owners of Tadeco before the Manila RTC.  Mendoza and Santos asked the RTC to compel Tadeco to honor its pledge in the 1958 loan deal with the CBP and GSIS and transfer the 6,400-hectare hacienda to the MAR who shall then subdivide, distribute and resell the land at cost to small farmers. 

Again, Tadeco insisted the CBP and GSIS conditions could not be enforced first, because there were no tenants in the hacienda and, second, sugarcane plantations were not part of the scope of the government’s land reform program. To do so, Tadeco lawyers said, would be giving in to what could be seen as a “disguised confiscation of private property.” 

The case dragged on for five years until Dec. 2, 1985 when Judge Bernardo Pardo of the Manila RTC Branch XLIII decided in favor of government.  The Cojuangcos immediately appealed the decision before the Court of Appeals (CA). 

Dismissal
Santos recalls that the RTC decision vindicated the sugar farm workers’ cause. Before the appeal could be heard at the CA, however, one of the Cojuangco’s heirs, Corazon Cojuangco-Aquino (widow of Marcos’ arch-rival Benigno Aquino), became president of the country on the crest of a popular uprising that toppled the Marcos dictatorship in February 1986.

But since the new president was one of the owners of the hacienda, Santos said he began to lose faith that the court decision would bear fruit. His fears were proven right when in 1986, President Cojuangco-Aquino appointed Sedfrey Ordoñez, the Cojuangco family’s own legal counsel in the Hacienda Luisita case, as solicitor general. As solicitor general, Santos added, Ordoñez was also to represent government that in the first place, originally filed the case for expropriation.

As expected, the case at the CA did not move and out of frustration, Santos resigned on the same year from MAR, which had been renamed as Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR).

In 1988, the appellate court issued a dismissal resolution mainly due to the fact that President Cojuangco-Aquino had guaranteed that sugar farms would be included in her agrarian reform program known as the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP).

Francisco Chavez, who replaced Ordoñez as solicitor general, asked through the CA whether the CBP, DAR and the GSIS, as parties to the case, were still interested in following up the appeal, Santos said. The three parties, based on court records, answered in the negative but pointed out that Hacienda Luisita should be part of the CARP with the land distributed to small farmers. On May 18, 1988, the CA dismissed the appeal. 

Santos clarifies, however, that in dismissing the appeal the CA did not actually say that it was nullifying the RTC Manila decision of 1985 which orders that Hacienda Luisita should be subdivided, distributed and resold to the hacienda’s small farmers at cost.

In fact, the CA dismissal-resolution emphasized “it is not only conditional but also without prejudice to the reopening/revival of the case if the conditions of the DAR are not met,” Santos says.

SDO
Saying that agrarian reform was the centerpiece of her administration, Mrs. Aquino instituted the CARP stating that land reform can be achieved by either actual land distribution or through a stock distribution scheme through the Stock Distribution Option (SDO). Subsequently, the Cojuangcos turned Hacienda Luisita into a corporation and is now known as Hacienda Luisita, Inc. (HLI), with the sugar farm workers classified from farm laborers to “stockholders” or “co-owners” of the said hacienda.

Ed Tadem, associate professor of Asian Studies at the University of the Philippines in Diliman, in a statement emailed to Bulatlat said that the SDO was implemented by the former president, who is part of a landlord clan, to “evade land reform.” 
This scheme was inserted into the so-called CARP (R.A. 6657) by pro-landlord legislators during the term of President Aquino, he said, to allow landowners who run their farms as corporations to distribute shares of stocks to farm workers in lieu of outright land transfer.

Tadem added that serious observers and scholars of agrarian reform contend that stock distribution can never be a substitute for land transfer which is the heart and soul of any genuine land reform.
Santos, on the other hand, said that the SDO deprives the farmers’ right to the land they till which, first and foremost, is a legitimate issue.
Solution

In a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) signed by Tadeco, the HLI, DAR and a handful of farm beneficiaries stated that they have entered into this agreement “in the spirit of the CARP with the end view of improving the lot of farm beneficiaries of the stock distribution plan and obtaining for them greater benefits.’
“The question is: Is the purpose of the SDO achieved? Has it become successful?” Santos asks. 

This question also rings in the mind of the sugar farm workers who have staged a work stoppage since Nov. 6 to, among their demands, force the DAR to review the implementation and effects of the SDO on their daily lives. 

Sugar farm workers say that since the incorporation of the hacienda, they have experienced greater hardships due to, among others, diminishing mandays caused by mechanization of sugar cane production and the land use conversion.

In Tadem’s statement, the Luisita stock option plan had been denounced as "unconstitutional" by the University of the Philippines Law Center in a position paper submitted in June 1990 to the Senate Agrarian Reform Committee. The memorandum stated that the "scheme is violative not only of the social justice provisions but even more so of the specific provisions of the Constitution on agrarian reform" since it "allows the original owners to remain the controlling interest at the expense of the supposedly farmer beneficiaries."

If the SDO does not actually benefit the sugar farm workers of the HLI, Santos, said it is imperative for the DAR to nullify the implementation of the SDO at HLI and pursue the lower court decision against the Cojuangcos.

Under these circumstance, the former DAR official said, that makes the Cojuangcos legally bound to distribute the hacienda to small farmers.

Santos also scored the DAR and the administrations after President Aquino for having no political will to settle the agrarian unrest in the hacienda.  It is sad that it had to take the lives of the fighting farm beneficiaries to put this issue into the government’s attention once more, he said. Bulatlat

RIGODON SA KAMPO NI NOYNOY AT MAR INAABANGAN

Hindi pa pala plantsado ang lahat tulad ng inaakala ng nakakarami. Malakas ang ugong-ugong na ang kampo ni Senador Noynoy Aquino at Senador Mar Roxas ay humaharap ngayon sa isang malaking intriga patungkol sa aktwal na pagpapatupad ng kanilang plano na “Noynoy-Mar” tandem para sa dadating na eleksyon sa 2010. Ayon sa isang tagapagmasid sa kampo ng Liberal Party ay posibleng magkaroon ng isang rigodon at magkapalit ng pwesto sila Noynoy at Mar kung saan si Mr Palengke ay babalik bilang standard bearer ng LP at si Noynoy ay babagsak para maging kandidato ng partido sa pagkabise presidente, ito diumano ay mangyayari bago matapos ang kasalukuyang taon.

Ang pagdeklara kay Noynoy sa labanan ng pagkapangulo at ang pagtanggap naman ni Mar bilang ka-partner nito ay hindi nangangahulugan na sila ay opisyal nang mga kandidato. Ito ay isang plano pa lamang na maaaring mapalitan lalo pa’t hindi pa nakapaghain ang dalawa ng kanila-kanilang opisyal na candidacy sa COMELEC. Hindi diumano papayagan ng grupong tinatawag na “The Firm” na maging pangalawa lamang si Mar. Ang grupong “The Firm” ang siyang nasa likod ng kandidatura ni Mr Palengke at tumutulak dito upang tumakbo sa pagkapangulo.

Ito ang isa sa mga pinanghahawakan ng grupong “The Firm” kasama na ang umiinit na intriga sa pagitan ng mga ibat-ibang grupong maka-Noynoy na ating namang natuklasan na pare-parehas palang naghihinanakit dahil sa sobrang pagkiling ng unico iho ni dating Pangulong Cory sa kanyang mga kapatid at ibang miyembro ng kaniyang pamilya sa tuwing may gagawing hakbang o di kaya ay bubuuing mga plano para sa 2010. Dahil dito ay nakakaramdam ng pagiging “out of place” ang mga kilalang miyembro ng Hyatt 10, ilang LP members at iba pang civil society groups na masugid na ipinalutang ang “Noynoy for President” sa kasagsagan ng pagluluksa kay President Cory Aquino.

Ang ganitong klaseng pagtatampo o ang pakiramdam ng pagtraydor ay pwedeng mag-udyok sa mga grupong ito na tuluyang talikuran si Noynoy at iakyat ng muli si Mar Roxas bilang kanilang kandidato sa pagkapangulo. Hindi ba’t kung sa ngayon pa lamang ay hindi na nila lubusang nahahawakan sa leeg si Noynoy ay posibleng sila naman ang ilaglag nito sa panahong ito ay magtagumpay sa 2010 at siya namang ika-uunsyami ng kani-kanilang mga personal na plano?

Ang posibleng pagririgodon ni Senador Noynoy at Senador Mar Roxas ay isang kaabang-abang na kaganapan sa bakod ng Liberal Party na una nang nag-akalang may malaking bentahe dahil sa mistulang mainit na pagtanggap ng mga tao sa Noynoy-Mar tandem. Ngunit ang ningning ng kahit ano mang bagay o tao ay lilipas din kung siya ay napapalibutan ng mga tao o grupong sisira dito.

PANGANGAMPANYA SA KALAGITNAAN NG DELUBYO

Sa mga nagdaang araw, malaki ang nawala sa Pilipinas lalong-lalo na sa mga taong nabiktima ng matinding paghagupit ng bagyong Ondoy sa kalakhang Maynila pati na rin sa mga katabing lalawigan. Ito ay sinundan ng pagpasok ng isa pang bagyo na si Pepeng na hinagupit at tumama mismo sa lalawigan sa hilagang bahagi ng bansa. Sa ngayon, ang buong bansa ay nasa state of calamity dahil sa pananalasang idinulot ng dalawang bagyo.

Ang mga pangyayaring ito ay nagdulot ng pagkakaisa, pakikipagtulungan at pagkakapantay-pantay ng bawat Pilipino sa pagbibigay ng tulong sa mga kapwa Pilipino. Ang trahedya ng bagyo ay nagbigay rin daan sa ilan upang magkaroon ng mapag-kakakitaan sa gitna ng dinaranas na kahirapan ng bansa gaya na lamang ng mga maliliit na talyer at gawaan ng mga kasangkapan sa bahay. Sa kabilang banda, may mga tao rin na nagging mapagsamantala dahil ninanakawan nila ang mga bahay na nilisan ng mga may-ari. At ang masama, may mga ilang opisyal na ginamit ang kanilang kapangyarihan upang makapagbigay ng tulong para na rin sa kanilang pansariling kapakanan dahil sa nalalapit na eleksyon.

May mga ilang tatakbong opisyal ang mga nakita sa lansangan ng iba’t-ibang lugar upang maghatid ng tulong. May iilan din na puspusan ang pagtulong upang bumango ang kanilang pangalan at imahe. Marahil, palapit na ng palapit ang araw ng eleksyon kung kaya’t lahat ng maaari nilang gawin upang makatulong ay puspusan at sisikapin nilang magawa.

Subalit, nakakabahala na may ilan na inuna pa ang kanilang sarili bago ang mga taong humihingi ng saklolo. May mga litrato na nagkalat sa ngayon sa internet patungkol sa pagkakabit ng mga campaign paraphernalia ni Senador Noynoy Aquino sa ilang probinsiya pagkatapos humagupit ang bagyong Ondoy. Nagawa pa umanong makipagkita ni Aquino kay dating Pangulo Joseph Estarada upang magkaroon ng pagpupulong sa pagitan nilang dalawa sa kasagsagan ng malakas na ulan.

Ang ganitong gawain ay mariing ikinokondena dahil ang lahat ng tao ay abala sa pagtulong sa mga kakababayang nasalanta ngunit si Aquino at ang kanyang mga taga-suporta ay nagging okupado sa pagkakabit ng mga banners at posters bilang pagkampanya sa parating na eleksyon. Ito ba ang lider na gugustuhin ng lahat? Mas uunahin pa niya ang kanyang sarili bago ang mga taong bayan. Wala na ba talaga siyang respeto sa mga kahirapan na dinaranas ng kanyang mga kababayan? Kung tutuusin, ang lahat ng ito ay patunay lamang na walang pakialam ang mga Aquino sa mahihirap gaya na lamang ng nangyari sa Hacienda Luisita.

Ang mga pagtulong na ginagawa ni Aquino sa mga nasalanta ay hindi sapat dahil ang mga pera na kanyang ibinahagi ay hindi nanggaling sa sariling bulsa kundi pera na nilikom ng kanyang mga taga-suporta na nagmula rin sa taong bayan. Hindi man lang niya masuklian ang binigay na hirap at pagod na naranasan ng sambayanang Pilipino sa pakikiramay at pagdadalamhati sa kanilang pamilya ng namatay ang kanyang ina.
Ganoon na ba talaga katindi ang kanyang pagnanasa na maka-upo sa palasyo ng Malacanang? Wala na ba siyang oras na pinipili kung kaya’t ultimo oras ng kalamidad ay kanyang susugurin para lamang mangampanya at makipag-usap sa iba’t-ibang pulitiko.

Marapat munang isantabi ang pangangampanya dahil hindi pa lubusang nakakabangon ang bansa sa dalawang magkasunod na bagyo na nag-iwan ng matinding sugat sa bansa.

Noynoy Aquino giving relief goods with Streamers for 2010 Election

(Photo by Sun Star Pampanga)


While people were trying to help typhoon ondoy victims Noynoy Aquino was busy campaigning. Futhermore, a specific example is that in the province of Pampanga, while everybody was consolidating relief goods for flood victims, Noynoy's supporters were busier putting up Noynoy 2010 streamers along Olongapo-Gapan road. Premature politicing, or just pure aristocratic insensitivity towards those who are suffering? One incumbent was so disgusted that he ordered his people to teardown these campaign paraphernalia in broad day light.

News in Sun Star Pampanga.

Read the full story here:

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/pampanga/support-noynoy-snowballing-pampanga

KORINA BINUKO NA NAPWERSA LAMANG SI SENATOR MAR ROXAS

Dahil sa emosyonal na pag-iyak ni Korina Sanchez noong Setyembre 1, 2009 sa Club Filipino in Greenhills sa San Juan habang ang kaniyang katipan na si Senador Mar Roxas ay nagdedeklara ng pag-urong ng kaniyang kandidatura sa pagkapangulo sa 2010 ay napatunayan ng marami na ang nasabing kontrobersyal na “withdrawal” ay hindi talaga bukal sa loob ni Mr Palengke bagkus siya ay napwersa lamang na gawin ito.

Mali ang inaakala ng nakakarami sa ating masang mga kababayan na ang mga luhang iniiyak ni Korina noong araw na iyon ay dahil nawala sa kaniya ang pagkakataong maging unang ginang ng bansa sa panahong naging mapalad sana si Mar sa eleksyon. Kung susuriin, si Korina Sanchez ay isang kilala at tanyag na personalidad na at inirerespeto ng mga tao sa kaniyang napiling larangan kung kaya’t hindi siya desperadong makamit ang titulo bilang “first lady” ng bansa. Sa totoo lang, ang mga luha ay bunsod ng isang sikreto na pinakakaingatang huwag mabunyag sa publiko.

Ayon sa isang mapagkakatiwalaang source, ang kawawang si Mr Palengke ay kinuyug lamang ng kaniyang mga kapartido upang umatras sa laban at magbigay daan sa biglaang pagkandidato ni Noynoy sa 2010. Bukod sa pagkuyug ng kaniyang mga kasamahan sa partido, napag-alaman din na ang pag-atras ni Mar sa 2010 ay isa sa mga binigay na kondisyones ng tinatawag na civil society groups upang sila may patuloy na sumuporta kay Noynoy at sa kaniyang magiging laban sa dadating na eleksyon.

Alam ng tao na marami ng dugo, pawis, luha at pera ang ginugol ni Senador Mar Roxas - sampu ng kaniyang pamilya at mga taga-suporta - upang siya ay makalibot sa buong bansa dahil sa kagustuhan niyang ipakilala ang kaniya sarili sa ating mga ilang milyong kababayan sa ibat-ibang parte ng bansa. Bago pa nagdeklara ang ibang presidentiables ay malinaw na malinaw na sa lahat ang gustong tahakin na landas ni Mr Palengke. Ngunit dahil sa biglang pagsulpot ni Noynoy sa listahan ng mga presidentiables ay nauwi sa wala ang mga naging puhunan ng kawawang senador.

Ngayon, bukod sa paghanga sa kaniyang ginawang pagpaparaya ay dapat kaawaan din ang katipan ni Korina Sanchez dahil siya ay malinaw na napagkaisahan ng kaniyang mga kapartido at ng mga grupong malalakas sa ating lipunan sa ngayon.