President Benigno Aquino III should stop staying neutral on the Hacienda Luisita issue, said the social-action arm of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), asking the chief executive to “intervene in favor of the farmers."
“Whatever decision he arrives at will have huge moral and political implications particularly on the current peace process with National Democratic Front in which agrarian reform is a central issue, and on the poor’s reception of his affirmations that he is for the poor," said Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo, national director of the CBCP's National Secretariat for Social Action, Justice, and Peace (NASSA), in a statement.
Last year, President Benigno Aquino III said he is implementing a “hands-off" policy on the case of Hacienda Luisita Inc. as he has supposedly divested himself of his one-percent stake in the corporation.
In a one-on-one interview with GMA anchor Jessica Soho last year, Aquino asserted this hands-off policy, choosing to leave the resolution of the issue to the hacienda's stakeholders.
“The resolution of the Hacienda Luisita case is a test of the administration’s political will. It will send a strong signal for the successful, or failed, implementation of agrarian reform," NASSA said.
‘Revoke SDO’
NASSA also urged the government to revoke the stock distribution option (SDO) scheme, a mode of compliance with the land reform law through distribution of stocks instead of the actual transfer of land to tillers.
The land distribution scheme, NASSA asserted, remains more effective. “Thus, it is disappointing to note that the Cojuangcos have managed to evade agrarian reform law for more than five decades, even as the legitimate beneficiaries of the land continue to live in grinding, abject poverty," NASSA said.
The SDO has allowed Hacienda Luisita Inc. to retain ownership of the land and also “legitimized" the distribution of paltry shares of stocks to farmers, NASSA added.
Moreover, the Church social-action group said: “NASSA’s opposition to SDO is grounded on the social teachings of the Church, which explicitly condemn exploitation of human labor, especially when rewarded with wages or other forms of payment that are unworthy of human dignity, such as in the case of the farmers in Hacienda Luisita."
Meanwhile, Pabillo urged the Supreme Court to exercise its “intrinsic political independence" on the case.
Earlier this month, a farmers’ group picketed the Supreme Court to ask the magistrates to expedite their decision on the decades-old Hacienda Luisita land dispute.
The protesters noted that in January, Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona said the decision would be out “soon."
The Supreme Court has not made the landmark decision up to now.
“Honorable Chief Justice, please allow us to remind you and all members of this collegiate body that there is a saying that justice delayed is justice denied," said Unyon ng Manggagawa sa Agrikultura secretary general Rodel Mesa during the protest.
Since the Spanish era and even after the Cojuangco family acquired Hacienda Luisita, disputes between the farmers and its owners have continued to haunt the over 6,000-hectare agricultural estate in Tarlac province. — with a report by Paterno Esmaquel II/LBG
