Under Aquino III: Promoting Ties of Dependency with the U.S.?
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Tarlac Councilor Is 9th Luisita Martyr; Victim’s Kin Finger Cojuangcos, Military as Suspects
Tarlac Councilor Is 9th Luisita Martyr; Victim’s Kin Finger Cojuangcos, Military as Suspects
From his humble beginnings as a sugar worker, City Councilor Abelardo R. Ladera emerged as one of the few successful local political figures who openly stood against the Cojuangco-Aquino dynasty in Tarlac. Ladera was gunned down at high noon of March 3 making him Tarlac’s first local official assassinated in the post-dictator era.
Massacre Shooters Go Berserk in Luisita, Claim 8th Victim
Massacre Shooters Go Berserk in Luisita, Claim 8th Victim
Shots shattered the evening calm as a peasant leader, Marcelino Beltran, went out of his house to greet some “visitors.” The visitors pumped bullets into his body and he died two hours later – the eighth to fall following the Nov. 16 massacre of seven farmers at Hacienda Luisita.
The Hacienda Luisita Massacre: How It Happened
The Hacienda Luisita Massacre: How It Happened
The violence that marred the strike of plantation and milling workers of the Cojuangco-owned Hacienda Luisita on Nov. 16 was bound to happen and government authorities may have to account for it.
Abortion Nation: Dire Human-Rights Crisis in Face of Increasing Acceptance
Abortion Nation: Dire Human-Rights Crisis in Face of Increasing Acceptance
By ANNE MARXZE D. UMIL
and MARYA SALAMAT
A study on abortion in the Philippines argues that the government has committed violations of human rights by criminalizing abortion regardless of circumstance. Another study, done by Gabriela, finds that abortion is increasingly becoming acceptable to Filipinos.
Gabriela Research Finds Abortion in Philippines ‘Increasingly Accepted’
Gabriela Research Finds Abortion in Philippines ‘Increasingly Accepted’
In the Philippines, there is today an alarming trend on incidences of abortion that, because these are forced to be done clandestinely, have also often been unsafe.
NDFP Questions Sincerity of Aquino Government in Pursuing Peace Talks but Still Open to Resumption
NDFP Questions Sincerity of Aquino Government in Pursuing Peace Talks but Still Open to Resumption
By RONALYN V. OLEA
“We are willing to go into serious peace talks aimed at addressing the root causes of the armed conflict through fundamental social, economic, political and constitutional reforms.” - NDFP
Truth Commission Criticized as Limited, Toothless
Truth Commission Criticized as Limited, Toothless
By ANNE MARXZE D. UMIL
“There could be no reconciliation without justice,” President Benigno Aquino III declared during his inaugural speech. But the means by which he intends to run after the former Arroyo administration, the Truth Commission, is being criticized by progressive groups for being a dud.
Related story: Truth Commissions, a Failure in the Country, Successful in Other Countries
Contrary to What Cojuangco-Aquinos Say, Farming Improved Lives of Many Luisita Folk
Contrary to What Cojuangco-Aquinos Say, Farming Improved Lives of Many Luisita Folk
After the Presidential Agrarian Reform Council ordered the revocation of the SDO in Hacienda Luisita, the farmer beneficiaries launched what they call a "bungkalan" or the cultivation of idle Luisita land. It was both a political statement and a matter of survival for the farm workers who were facing extreme poverty in the hacienda owned by President Benigno S. Aquino III and his family. Farmers who participated swear that their lives improved after the "bungkalan." 
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Cojuangco-Aquinos Denounced for Using Millions to Lure, Deceive Luisita Farm Workers
Cojuangco-Aquinos Denounced for Using Millions to Lure, Deceive Luisita Farm Workers
By RONALYN V. OLEA
Ulwu chairman Lito Bais said the financial package from Hacienda Luisita management was meant to lure farm workers into the compromise-agreement bait. “They exploited the poverty of the farm workers and used money to deceive them,” he said. Bais also accused the Cojuangco-Aquinos of "hoodwinking" farm workers of hundreds of millions from earlier land deals.
In Crafting ‘Sham’ Deal, Cojuangco-Aquinos Turned to Leaders Who Had Earlier Betrayed Farm Workers
In Crafting ‘Sham’ Deal, Cojuangco-Aquinos Turned to Leaders Who Had Earlier Betrayed Farm Workers
By RONALYN V. OLEA
Kicked out of farmers' groups and the workers’ union in Hacienda Luisita, the two key signatories in the compromise agreement supposedly representing the farmer beneficiaries have a history of betrayal against the farm workers and collaboration with the Cojuangco-Aquinos.
Live Webcast: Luisita Farmers Denounce Cojuangco-Aquino Deception
Live Webcast: Luisita Farmers Denounce Cojuangco-Aquino Deception
In this webcast, Lito Bais, president of the United Luisita Workers Union, Felix Nakpil and Federico Laza of Ambala, and Atty. Jobert Pahilga, lawyer for the farm workers, talk about the compromise agreement wangled by Hacienda Luisita management. They enumerate the alleged deception by the Cojuangco-Aquinos. 
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Video Sidebar: Hacienda Luisita Farmers Endure Military Harassment
Video Sidebar: Hacienda Luisita Farmers Endure Military Harassment
Luisita Farmers Endure Harassment
Luisita Deal ‘a Travesty of Social Justice’
Luisita Deal ‘a Travesty of Social Justice’
By RONALYN V. OLEA
Jobert Pahilga, lawyer of the farm workers’ group Alyansa ng Manggagawang Bukid sa Hacienda Luisita (Ambala), enumerates some of the provisions of the compromise agreement that are inimical to the interest of the farm workers.
Militarization, Harassment Intensified in Luisita in Run-Up to Signing of ‘Sham Deal’
Militarization, Harassment Intensified in Luisita in Run-Up to Signing of ‘Sham Deal’
By MARYA SALAMAT
Weeks before the management of Hacienda Luisita announced the signing of the controversial “compromise agreement” with farm workers, the villages in and around the sugar plantation owned by President Benigno S. Aquino III and his family were subjected to militarization, the kind that sowed fear among the residents, particularly those opposed to the stock distribution option. Video Sidebar: Military Tries to Intimidate Luisita Farmers
Hacienda Luisita’s SDO: A Deceitful Scheme (A Video Primer)
Hacienda Luisita’s SDO: A Deceitful Scheme (A Video Primer)
Jobert Ilarde Pahilga, the lawyer of Hacienda Luisita farmers challenging the stock distribution option (SDO) being implemented in the plantation owned by the family of President Benigno S. Aquino III, explains in this "video primer" the SDO, why the Cojuangco-Aquino family was hell-bent on it, why the lives of the farmers did not improve in spite of it, and why these farmers and peasants are opposed to it. Watch the video
Cojuangco-Aquinos Used ‘Impostors’ Who Misrepresented Luisita Workers in ‘Sham’ Deal
Cojuangco-Aquinos Used ‘Impostors’ Who Misrepresented Luisita Workers in ‘Sham’ Deal
By RONALYN V. OLEA
“We will definitely question in all forums available to us the standing of these individuals with whom HLI management negotiated and hold them accountable for their acts,” said Jobert Ilarde Pahilga, a lawyer for the farm workers.
Related Items
Sidebar: A History of Deception in Hacienda Luisita | Sidebar: President Aquino Can Be Held Equally Liable for ‘Grand Deception’ vs. Luisita Farmers | Previous story: ‘Breakthrough Deal’ Is a Lie Meant to Sway Supreme Court Decision on Hacienda Luisita, Say Farmers | Previous story: How Hacienda Luisita Stock Scheme Led to Farmers’ Misery | Read the compromise agreement | Full coverage: Hacienda Luisita
President Aquino Can Be Held Equally Liable for ‘Grand Deception’ vs. Luisita Farmers
President Aquino Can Be Held Equally Liable for ‘Grand Deception’ vs. Luisita Farmers
President Benigno S. Aquino III can be held equally liable for what progressive groups have described as a “sham” deal involving his family’s Hacienda Luisita.
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