CBCP, tillers reject referendum

COJUANGCO-AQUINO CLAN MOVING TO ‘SOW DISUNITY’

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) have closed ranks with militant farmers in rejecting the recent Supreme Court (SC) order for the Department of Agrarian Reform to hold a referendum among Hacienda Luisita Inc. (HLI) farm workers for them to choose between land distribution and staying with the corporate structure on land ownership through the stock distribution option (SDO) of the vast estate the basis of which, called the stock distribution plan (SDP), the Tribunal upheld as illegal.

Farmers groups said the Cojuangco-Aquino clan had given them a preview of the divide and rule tactic to be employed to turn around in their favor the Supreme Court order for a referendum.

The militant peasant groups Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP), Alyansa ng mga Manggagawang Bukid sa Asyenda Luisita (Ambala) and the Unyon ng mga Manggagawa sa Agrikultura (UMA) accused President Aquino and his relatives, the Cojuangcos of Tarlac, for “sowing disunity among farm workers of Hacienda Luisita” saying the divide and rule tactics being employed today are “a portent of things to come” once the Supreme Court-ordered referendum pushes through.

Rodel Mesa, UMA secretary general and Alyansa ng mga Manggagawang Bukid sa Asyenda Luisita (Ambala)

spokesman said farmers “have monitored” reports that the Cojuangco-Aquinos are again “talking with their shadows.”

Mesa was referring to the group of Eldifonso Pingol and Noel Mallari who claims to be the Vice-President of the United Luisita Workers’ Union and Vice-chairman of Ambala, respectively, when they signed the botched compromise deal last August.

“While President Aquino continues to keep mum on the Supreme Court’s highly deceptive ruling, his relatives are very busy sowing disunity among Hacienda Luisita farmers and farm workers,” said KMP secretary general Danilo Ramos.

The influential Catholic Bishop Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) also outrightly rejected the SC order for a referendum on the Hacienda Luisita row which it said will only continue the grave historical injustice the clan committed against farmers.

In a prepared statement which entitled “SC’s referendum, SDO Daang baluktot” (SC’s referendum, SDO crooked paths) which was clearly in reference to the straight path that Aquino has been trumpeting, it said: “We are confounded by the judgment of the Supreme Court. It upheld the Presidential Agrarian Reform Council (PARC) resolution revoking the 1989 stock distribution plan (SDP), yet in the same vein instructed DAR to give it another lease on life through referendum. The revocation of the SDP already effectively removed the legal foundation for such an option. Furthermore, does the Supreme Court not infringe on the executive branch by ordering DAR to hold such a referendum?”

The CBCP noted that historically, referenda in Hacienda Luisita had always been to the disadvantage of poor farmers since they are not in a position to freely choose because of their dire material needs and because of threats and political manipulations of the occupying entity.

“By this decision, which is not a “win-win” solution at all, the Supreme Court is now perceived as interpreting the laws not in favor of the poor farmers but of the landed rich people,” it said.

“We call on Supreme Court to seriously and deeply reflect on the significance of its decision to agrarian justice. We pray that the justices, especially the six who composed the majority decision in this case, will find the graciousness to summon their legal expertise to bring about real social justice that benefit the poor. Their present decision on Hacienda Luisita does not show this,” it added.

KMP’s Ramos said the President has knowledge and consent to his relatives’ divide and rule strategy. “His so-called silence indicates consent to the continuing agrarian injustice inflicted by his family to Hacienda Luisita farm workers,” Ramos said.

“The Cojuangco-Aquinos are notorious for employing guns, goons, and gold inside the hacienda just like what happened in two sham referendums in the past. The divide and rule tactic being employed today by the President’s family is a preview of what will happen once the Supreme Court-ordered referendum pushes through,” Ramos said.

Ramos maintained that the Supreme Court-ordered referendum is “the same monstrous scheme used in the 1989 referendum on the stock distribution option and the August 2010 referendum on the sham compromise agreement.”

However, Mesa said that Mallari and Pingol were former officials of the groups but no longer represent the farmers because they were “bought off” by the Cojuangcos.

“This shows that the SC ruling is nothing but a vehicle of the Cojuangcos to deceive the farm workers and evade land distribution,” says Mesa, who is also the secretary general of the national farm workers’ group Unyon ng mga Manggagawa sa Agrikultura (UMA).

“We strongly reject the high court’s decision for a referendum. The SC decision will surely lead to the eruption of the already rumbling social volcano in Hacienda Luisita,” Mesa said.

At same time, the CBCP reminded Aquino that “land distribution is the only true path towards justice and economic sustainability.”

“We call on PNoy’s leadership to seize the chance presented by the tragic SC ruling. As Chief Executive, he cannot continue washing his hands on this issue. What kind of presidency does he hope to offer this country if he cannot even make his own family relinquish its stranglehold on properties that in the first place were acquired through government resources? It is well within his power to order DAR to distribute the land according to the spirit and conditions of the CARPER Law,” CBCP said.

“The integrity of his social contract is clouded in doubts and mistrust until he finally learns to give precedence to the poor through social justice. He, and his advisers, should also bear in mind that the issue of land lies at the heart of the current peace process. Rural unrests could break out in the absence of genuine implementation of the CARPER Law.”

The statement also called on farmers to hold fast on their aspirations for the land. “The fight for justice is never easy but also not in vain. You must solidify your ranks, lay aside differences and start looking for ways on how to obtain the land through your collective strengths. You will accomplish nothing if you start moving in different directions. There is strength in numbers, and united, you are definitely more powerful than the few who try to subdue you. Remember that the Church and the civil society groups whose heart are for the poor are behind your effort and we will do all we can to see you settled in the lands you hope to own,” it said.

In ending the statement, the CBCP echoed its call on the people “to break free of indifference and take up the cause of the farmers as their own. The fight for the land does not solely affect the agrarian sector. It has lingering repercussion on our food sovereignty and economic development.”

“All of us have a stake on how the courts and the State dispense justice. Let us fulfill our civil and Christian obligations by supporting the farmers, in this case the poor farmers of Hacienda Luisita, by adding our voices to their cry,” it said. -Charlie V. Manalo and Pat C. Santos, Daily Tribune