MANILA, Philippines—The compromise agreement signed yesterday between the owners and farm workers of Hacienda Luisita Inc. (HLI) obliges HLI to allocate P150 million in financial assistance to the farmer-beneficiaries, to be distributed based on the amount of shares they currently own. Each share is worth P1.27.
The company is obliged to release the fund assistance regardless of which option the farmers choose.
The amount of shares owned by each beneficiary will also determine the area of land he or she would be entitled to should they choose direct land allocation.
But the deal also requires farm workers opting for land distribution to “waive all their rights or interests on the remaining assets of HLI.”
Right of first refusal
The agreement states that should farm workers decide to liquidate, lease or transfer their assets, they should grant HLI “the right of first refusal.”
“Should HLI or its assigns fail to match the best offer given to the farm workers within 360 days from the receipt of a written notice, then the farm workers may proceed to deal with third parties,” the document read.
The new agreement also proposes new items. It obliges farm workers to “express support or not to interpose objections to the further development of HLI lands even for nonagricultural purposes [in order] to optimize land productivity and create job opportunities.”
The deal indicates that farm workers who opt to keep their shares of stock would be given preference in job hiring.
Should farm workers opt for direct land distribution, the new deal requires that they relinquish all their shares in the company.
Non-agri use of land
“Land shall be given to them for free and clean of any and all lien or encumbrances. Whatever is the total percentage shareholdings in HLI of the farm workers opting for land distribution shall be the equivalent percentage of the size of the land to be given to them from the remaining HLI land actually devoted to agriculture,” the agreement stated.
“All monetary and nonmonetary benefits, such as home lots and production share, already received by the farm workers shall remain and shall not be questioned, or refunded as a result of land distribution. At the same time, the parties hereby respect and will no longer question the validity of the conversion of lands to nonagricultural use,” it said. –Philippine Daily Inquirer
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