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“Police, armed men and other agents of the Cojuangco-Aquino family who are responsible for the destruction of our crops, homes and livelihood run free despite our formal complaints before several government agencies... We farmers, however, who have not committed any wrongdoing were quickly imprisoned.”
This is the third time that Florida Sibayan was detained for fighting for their right to land in Hacienda Luisita.
Tadeco and CAT, both owned by the Cojuangco-Aquino clan, are claiming ownership over 258 hectares of land in Balete, 374 hectares in Mapalacsiao and 104 hectares in Cutcut.
“We must continue our struggle; only until we reclaim our land would there be genuine justice.” – Tarlac City Councilor Emily Ladera-Facunla
“What’s the use of my position if I could not defend the rights of my constituents? It’s better to die serving the people of the Hacienda Luisita than to die without meaning.” – Tarlac City Councilor Emily Ladera-Facunla
Monique Wilson, a world class Filipino actress and global diretor for One Billion for Rising Justice campaign, takes up the cudgels for Hacienda Luisita women's struggle for genuine land reform.
Hacienda Luisita farmers share how their huts were destroyed and how they were evicted from their farm lands last month by the security guards of the Tarlac Development Corporation, a firm owned by the family of President Benigno Simeon Cojuangco Aquino III.
“It is highly fraudulent that after the farmers paid amortization for the lands and the Land Bank paid compensation to the landowner, the DAR ordered the return of the land to the landowner.” – Samahan ng mga Magsasaka sa Batangas
There is a need for a network like Luisita Watch because the tyranny against farm workers in Hacienda Luisita is not being publicized.
“Compensation should have been for the actual land value of P304 million only, since DAR will not be paying them over a ten-year period as contemplated in the law. Why did DAR pay the Cojuangcos extra for the 10-year cost of money when they were paid outright and in full?” – ACT Teachers’ Rep. Antonio Tinio
“The tension in Hacienda Luisita is escalating.”
The Cojuanco clan was reportedly paid P471.5 million ($10.477 million) as compensation for turning over the land of Hacienda Luisita to the farmworker beneficiaries. But how come the Tarlac Development Corporation, owned by the clan, are now claiming choice parts of the land, and Aquino’s friends such as Virgie Torres are brandishing land lease agreements to kick out farmers from the land they have been tilling?
'It's better for DAR to stop lying and prove through actions their claims of implementing the law in Luisita. It should first stop the bulldozers of Cojuangcos in destroying our livelihood and property before they flaunt their fake accomplishments.'
"We call on the DOJ [Department of Justice] to make good their promise of creating a special panel to look into rights violations against farmers in Hacienda Luisita. With the fragile situation in Luisita, this DOJ panel must start its work now.” -- Ambala
“The Filipino peasantry has had enough of Aquino’s blatant disregard for the peoples demand for justice and genuine land reform.” – Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas
“The Apeco law, which established the freeport zone in the province, ushered a new era of land grabbing and plunder of natural resources to the detriment of the indigenous people, farmers and small fisherfolk in Casiguran, Aurora.
“The projects that the DAR entered into with the NGOs ... are not in any way related to energy-development. Worst, those projects were never implemented. Not a single centavo was spent for the said projects and not a single farmer received any benefit therefrom.”
Twenty seven years ago on January 22, 1987, 10,000-15,000 marching farmworkers of Hacienda Luisita and land reform advocates were met with bullets as they bravely wagered for land, labor, and life. This fatal encounter, now known as the Mendiola Massacre, between farmworkers and the state is a scandalous event that instantly killed 13 protesters, the same event that made a premature break with the new regime’s professed democratic restoration after the dark years of Martial Law.
“…Even when the Honorable Court has specifically ordered the DAR to cover all other agricultural lands in Hacienda Luisita, it did not immediately do so.”
The Cojuangco-owned Tarlac Development Corporation started bulldozing farmlands and evicting farmers in Balete village in November last year.
RELATED STORY | Luisita farmers file contempt charges vs agrarian reform department
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