KMU slams arrest and harassment of Luisita farmers

We condemn in the strongest terms the continued harassment and illegal arrests of farm workers of Hacienda Luisita. Once again, the Aquino-Cojuangco clan has shamelessly used the state’s police and military forces to violently attack farmers.

The arrests are illegal and were done without warrants. The police forces, who were holding a mere order for farm workers to vacate the land being unjustly claimed by RCBC, attacked the camp set up by farmers to assert their right to the land. The 300 forces in full battle gear sent by the Tarlac Philippine National Police do not have any legal obligation nor the right to be in the farmers’ camp.

Elements of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and hired goons of RCBC, who threw stones and pointed guns at Luisita farmers, are the ones who should be arrested for harassment and violation of human rights.

The Luisita farm workers have every right to defend the parcel of land that they have cultivated for survival. The Supreme Court, after all, has already ordered the distribution of Luisita’s lands among them.

These attacks are masterminded by the Aquino-Cojuangco clan, which is getting more and more desperate to regain control over the lands that legally and morally belong to its tillers.

We also condemn Pres. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III for using political power to protect his family’s interests. He is doing everything to prevent Luisita’s farm workers from owning the hacienda’s lands: from the impeachment of Chief Justice Renato Corona and the deployment of police and military forces to the hacienda, to the holding of joint US-PH military exercises and the stationing of US troops in the hacienda.

The arrests and harassments of Luisita farm workers must end immediately. The Luisita farm workers have already experienced enough oppression, human rights violations, and mass murder from the Aquino-Cojuangco clan. They have done nothing wrong and are merely fighting for their right to own the lands that they have tilled for decades.

We call on the Supreme Court: Immediately junk the motion for reconsideration filed by the Cojuangco-Aquino clan against its December 22 decision! Speed up the implementation of the December 22 decision! We want the immediate, free and unconditional distribution of hacienda’s lands to its tillers! The delay in the implementation of the SC decision is being exploited by the Cojuangco-Aquino clan to further harass Luisita’s farm workers and violate their human rights.

We also call on the Filipino workers and people to support the struggle of Luisita farm workers for land and justice against the Cojuangco-Aquino clan and the Aquino government. Let us fight this president who remains inutile towards the widespread poverty and hunger in the country while being an obedient puppet of his family, fellow landlords and businessmen, and US imperialists.