[Workers Assess Noynoy Series] After one year under Aquino, Luisita farmers face worse attacks vs. land distribution

More than 10 days to go before Pres. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III’s second State of the Nation Address, labor center Kilusang Mayo Uno slammed the president for ushering in worse attacks against land distribution in Hacienda Luisita within his first year in office, saying this bodes ill for land reform in the country.

“Within his first year in office, Pres. Aquino has attempted to make land distribution in Luisita a more remote possibility and to strengthen his family’s ownership of the hacienda. The public does not believe him when he says he had no hand in the HLI referendum and the SC decision on the matter,” said Lito Ustarez, KMU vice-chairperson.

“Aquino’s first year in office is a bad one for Hacienda Luisita farmers and for farmers across the country, and bodes ill for them. After a year, it is clear that we have a president who, contrary to the hype, has not transcended his landlord interests and has been using his power to uphold his landowning interests,” he added.

In July 2010, Hacienda Luisita Incorporated held a referendum among farm workers where the latter were asked to choose between owning stocks or parcels of land.

One year after, the Supreme Court invalidated the said referendum but ordered the holding of a a similar one under the supervision of the Department of Agrarian Reform, frustrating land reform advocates who demanded that the court order the distribution of lands in Luisita.

“We cannot expect a president who, despite widespread calls, refused to distribute his family’s hacienda to implement an honest-to-goodness land reform program. It is clear from his first year that he will continue to implement the CARPER which is so biased against farmers and in favor of landlords,” Ustarez added, referring to the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program Extension with Reforms.

“Pres. Aquino’s moves on Hacienda Luisita will further strengthen the agrarian unrest that is being waged by the communist-led New People’s Army in the countryside. By clearly showing that he is against agrarian reform, he is – in the minds of farmers – pitting himself clearly against the armed revolutionaries whose central program is land distribution,” he added.