Statement or no statement, SONA 2011 to be judged based on Luisita

“Whether Pres. Aquino in his SONA makes a direct statement on the Hacienda Luisita issue or not, his speech will be judged as a statement on the issue.”

This was labor center Kilusang Mayo Uno’s warning as it joined today’s “Multisectoral and Interfaith Gathering for Land and Justice” in Manila which calls for the distribution of Hacienda Luisita lands to farmers, just days before Pres. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III’s State of the Nation Address.

“Noynoy’s statement or silence on the Luisita issue in his SONA will be judged based on his promise in the 2011 elections to distribute the hacienda lands by 2014 and the recent Supreme Court decision on the issue. Try as he might, Pres. Aquino cannot erase the widespread perception that he influenced the SC decision on the land dispute in the Cojuangco-owned hacienda,” said Lito Ustarez, KMU vice-chairperson.

“Should he keep silent on the issue, his statement would be more straightforward: he has abandoned his election promise to distribute the Luisita lands by 2014 and he is siding with the SC decision,” he added.

“Should he directly address the issue but fall short of affirming his election promise, he would still be making the same statement: that he has abandoned the promise and he is siding with the SC ruling,” he said.

KMU noted that Pres. Aquino has not personally addressed the issue of Hacienda Luisita after the Supreme Court released its decision on the issue. It said the SONA is an historic opportunity for the Filipino workers and people to firm up their judgement of Pres. Aquino on the issue.

“In short, nothing less than a renewed and strengthened commitment to distribute the Luisita lands to farmers and farmworkers will paint him to be a deceitful traditional politician who made a sweet promise during the elections only to break that promise upon winning. It is of no help that he has not fulfilled his other big campaign promise, that of going after Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo,” Ustarez said.

“Pres. Aquino likes to project his government as winning and keeping the trust of the Filipino people, yet on the issue of Hacienda Luisita, he is showing no qualms in squandering whatever trust that the Filipino people have for him,” he added.