Luisita, farmers ink compromise pact

MANILA, Philippines – The farmers and owners of Hacienda Luisita Inc. (HLI) yesterday ended their decades-long dispute by signing an agreement that will allow the farmers to own a patch of the estate or continue as stockholders of the sugar firm.

The agreement was signed by HLI and representatives of the Alyansa ng mga Mangagawang Bukid ng Hacienda Luisita (AMBALA), United Luisita Workers Union (ULWU) and Supervisory Group of Hacienda Luisita Inc. (Supervisory Group).

The HLI and the Tarlac Development Corp. (TDC) have agreed to put an end to the 21-year-old dispute by allowing the farmer beneficiaries to own the parcel of land they are tilling as their mode of compliance with the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) or choose the stock distribution option (SDO) as was agreed upon in a Memorandum of Agreement signed in 1989.

The lands will be distributed to farmer-beneficiaries for free, without liens or encumbrances.

Under the agreement, the HLI and TDC will provide a total of P150 million in financial assistance to the beneficiaries, which would be released on a staggered basis should the Supreme Court approve the agreement.

The agreement also stated that the farmer-beneficiaries could continue owning stocks of the sugar firm under the SDO deal.

The same agreement stated that the farmer-beneficiaries who had chosen stock distribution will be allowed to keep the home lots and production shares that were given to them under the SDO agreement.

The farmers opting for land distribution, however, shall waive their right and interests on HLI, meaning they have to return their shares of stocks to the TDC, the developer of the sugar estate.

The HLI has initially identified 900 farmer-beneficiaries out of the 10,502-strong workforce of the 6,453-hectare sugar plantation covered by the agreement.

HLI officials explained they would be conducting a series of talks with the farmers’ groups to identify more beneficiaries.

The 900 farmer-beneficiaries have yet to choose whether they would go for land distribution or retain the SDO deal, the HLI pointed out.

“Farmwer-beneficiaries have the freedom to choose. Those who choose land will be given land, and those who want to retain the SDO will be allowed to stay,” family spokesman Fernando Cojuangco said.

HLI spokesman Tony Ligon said the parties signed the agreement “freely and voluntarily” and agreed to cooperate in good faith in implementing the provisions of the agreement.

Hopeful

Malacañang, for its part, expressed hope that the Supreme Court (SC) would approve the agreement.

“Hopefully, the SC will look with favor on the agreement. But certainly, it will be up to the SC justices to decide,” presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said.

President Aquino himself was elated at the latest development, which he acknowledged he knew about from the start.

In a dialogue with reporters, Mr. Aquino said he even cancelled his trip this weekend to Tarlac, if only to prove that he is not interfering in the dispute.

Mr. Aquino, who previously had a one percent stake in HLI, said he already divested himself of the shares.

“We hope from that point on, without preempting the SC, they will review that compromise agreement, and if it’s not contrary to law and morals of public policy, then it will be approved,” Lacierda added.

Once finalized, the settlement between farmers and Luisita management will be submitted to the SC for final disposition.

Lacierda stressed that any agreement reached at this point is not yet final since both parties still have to apprise the SC of the settlement deal and wait for the final ruling.

“I understand that if at all a compromise agreement will be signed, it will be submitted to the SC. We have no way to know how the SC will rule on that particular compromise agreement or the decision,” he said.

Lacierda said the President has been aware of the negotiations from the very start, and had wanted a settlement soonest.

“The President… wanted the Luisita problem solved, other than that, he had no involvement (in the issue),” he said.

Lacierda said Mr. Aquino’s concern – even when he was still Tarlac congressman and senator – was to “really provide employment for these displaced employees or beneficiaries.”

Lacierda shot down insinuations the settlement was a way of preempting any SC ruling.

He said the deal was a product of a series of negotiations between the parties.

“It just so happened that the management and the farmer-beneficiaries came to a meeting of the minds,” he said.

The SC is to decide on a directive from the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) to HLI to parcel out the hacienda to its workers.

DAR had said the SDO has failed to improve the lives of farmers at the sugar hacienda, the mandate of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program.

‘Shotgun deal’

The farm worker-beneficiaries present during the signing of the agreement in Tarlac yesterday said the deal would finally mend their disagreements with the HLI management.

One of the signatories, Windsor Andaya of the Supervisory Group, said the agreement reflected the effort and good faith of the parties to end the dispute in the hacienda since 1989.

Eldifonso Pingol of ULWU said the compromise agreement is a big step in elevating their dire economic situation.

Some militant groups, however, claimed the representatives of the farmer-beneficiaries who signed the agreement were just forced todo so by the HLI management.

“This (agreement) is a shotgun deal made possible through the employment of sheer terror and deception,” according to Danilo Ramos of the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP).

Ramos said the HLI still maintains a private army of 100 soldiers and armed militia units lording over the farmers in the sugar estate.

Ramos said those who signed the agreement fell victim to management promises.

“We are now studying legal moves on how to scrap and invalidate the deal,” Ramos declared.

The Farmworkers Movement in Hacienda Luisita (FMHL) also questioned the signing of the agreement.

They claimed HLI succeeded in manipulating the farmers to the sign the agreement.

The group, which claimed they have 1,400 members, said it was unfortunate that the farmers gave in and inked a deal with the HLI at the time the issue is set for discussion at the SC.

“All the farmers involved deserve justice and not just a select few. It seems money could have been used in luring these farmers to sign the agreement,” said Renato Laic of the FMHL.

On the other hand, DAR Undersecretary Narciso Nieto said they would still have to check if the agreement signed yesterday was in accordance with the agrarian reform laws and jurisprudence.

“Once the Supreme Court asks the department’s comment on the agreement, then we will conduct a review. We will see if there are flaws and we will make the necessary recommendations or suggestions,” Nieto said. –Rhodina Villanueva (The Philippine Star) with Delon Porcalla