SC: Luisita farmer-beneficiaries have choice: Stocks or land

It’s back to square one for the hacienda workers.

While the Supreme Court (SC) has turned down the petition filed by the Aquino-Cojuangco-family controlled Hacienda Luisita Inc. (HLI) over how to go about processing the sugar estate into the government’s agrarian reform program, upholding the 2006 revocation of the Stock Distribution Option during the Arroyo administration, the high court ordered a referendum for hacienda workers to decide on whether they want to retain their stocks through the SDO or get the land.

In a decision by Senior Associate Justice Presbitero Velasco, the high court denied the petition filed by HLI and upheld resolutions issued six years ago by Malacañang during the time of then Agrarian Secretary Nasser Pangandaman.

“WHEREFORE, the instant petition is DENIED. PARC (Presidential Agrarian Reform Council) Resolution No. 2005-32-01 dated December 22, 2005 and Resolution No. 2006-34-01 dated May 3, 2006 are hereby AFFIRMED with the MODIFICATION that the original 6,296 qualified FWBs (farmer-beneficiaries) shall have the option to remain as stockholders of HLI.” the dispositive portion of the decision said.

HLI is entitled to just compensation for the agricultural land that will be transferred to DAR to be reckoned from Nov. 21, 1989, the SC ruled. The Department of Agrarian Reform and the Land Bank of the Philippines were also ordered to determine the compensation due to HLI.

The affirmed PARC ruling dated Dec. 22, 2005,upheld the recommendation of the DAR to revoke the SDO plan of Tarlac Development Corp./Hacienda Luisita Inc. and ruled “that the lands subject of the recalled/revoked TDC/HLI SDO plan be placed under the compulsory coverage or mandated land acquisition scheme of CARP,”.

The 2005 Palace ruling in turn came after an investigation by the Special Task Force submitted its report on the HLI SDO conflict, finding that HLI has not complied with its obligations despite the implementation of the SDP.

At the time of the SDP approval, HLI had a pool of farmworkers, numbering 6,296, more or less, composed of permanent, seasonal and casual master list/payroll and non-master list members.

In its decision yesterday the tribunal said that of the 6,296 FWBs, “he or she who wishes to continue as an HLI stockholder is entitled to 18,804.32 HLI shares,”.

“In case the HLI shares already given to him or her is less than 18,804.32 shares, the HLI is ordered to issue or distribute additional shares to complete said prescribed number of shares at no cost to the FWB within 30 days from finality of this Decision,”the SC added.

The court said farm worker beneficiaries who do not belong to the original 6,296 qualified beneficiaries are not entitled to land distribution and shall remain as HLI shareholders.

The court also ordered that the DAR “immediately schedule meetings with the said 6,296 FWBs and explain to them the effects, consequences and legal or practical implications of their choice, after which the FWBs will be asked to manifest, in secret voting, their choices in the ballot, signing their signatures or placing their thumbmarks, as the case may be, over their printed names.

All salaries, benefits, 3 percent production share and 3 percent share in the proceeds of the sale of the 500-hectare converted land and the 80.51-hectare SCTex lot and homelots already received by the 10,502 FWBs, composed of 6,296 original FWBs and 4,206 non-qualified FWBs, shall be respected with no obligation to refund or return them.

Within 30 days after determining who from among the original FWBs will stay as stockholders, the SC required DAR to segregate from the HLI agricultural land with an area of 4,915.75 hectares the following: the 500-hectare lot subject of the August 14, l996 Conversion Order; the 80.51-hectare lot sold to, or acquired by, the government as part of the SCTex complex; and the aggregate area of 6,886.5 square meters of individual lots that each FWB is entitled to under the CARP had he or she not opted to stay in HLI as a stockholder.

After the segregation process, as indicated, is done, the remaining area shall be turned over to DAR for immediate land distribution to the original qualified FWBs who opted not to remain as HLI stockholders.

The said area composed of 6,886.5-square meter lots allotted to the FWBs who stayed with the corporation shall form part of the HLI assets.

HLI was directed to pay the 6,296 FWBs the consideration of P500,000,000 received by it from Luisita Realty, Inc. for the sale to the latter of 200 hectares out of the 500 hectares covered by the Aug. 14, 1996 Conversion Order, the consideration of P 750,000,000 received by its owned subsidiary, Centennary Holdings, Inc. for the sale of the remaining 300 hectares of the aforementioned 500-hectare lot to Luisita Industrial Park Corp., and the price of P80,511,500 paid by the government through the Bases Conversion Development Authority for the sale of the 80.51-hectare lot used for the construction of the SCTex road network.

DAR was also ordered to engage the services of a reputable accounting firm approved by the parties to audit the books of HLI and Centennary Holdings, Inc. to determine if the P 1,330,000,000 proceeds of the sale of the three lots were used or spent for legitimate corporate purposes. Any unspent or unused balance as determined by the audit shall be distributed to the 6,296 original FWBs.

DAR shall submit a compliance report after six (6) months from finality of this judgment. It shall also submit, after submission of the compliance report, quarterly reports on the execution of this judgment to be submitted within the first 15 days at the end of each quarter, until fully implemented.

Meanwhile, Anakpawis Rep. Rafael Mariano yesterday called on the farmer-beneficiaries of the vast sugar estate to reject the SC ruling and boycott the new referendum to settle the dispute on the more than 6,000 hectare estate owned by the family of President Aquino.

In a statement, Mariano said the SC decision revoking stock distribution (SDO) in Hacienda Luisita but allowing the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) to conduct a new referendum at the disputed land estate is “deceitful and only favors Aquino’s landlord administration.”

The SDO agreement was used by the Cory Aquino’s administration in 1989 to evade land distribution in Hacienda Luisita. Instead of including the 6,453 hectares Hacienda Luisita in the coverage of land reform, the Cojuangco-Aquinos used SDO to give shares of stocks to farmers-beneficiaries.

“For more than five decades, farmers-beneficiaries have fought for the compulsory land distribution of Hacienda Luisita,” Mariano said. –Benjamin B. Pulta and Charlie V. Manalo, Daily Tribune