Official Statement of United Luisita Workers’ Union (ULWU) and Katipunan ng mga Sanggunian Mag-aaral sa UP (KASAMA SA UP)
Hacienda Luisita massacre remains an open, festering wound, a bloodstain on the cheery yellow of Aquino’s candidacy. This recent protest action reminds him and the rest of the nation that the issue will not simply go away. As long as he and his family keeps skirting the issue, they should expect more protest action in the coming days to demand for justice and land.
To Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III, who styles himself as the next President of the Philippines, we put forward this challenge: stop dodging the issue of Hacienda Luisita.
Six years after the brutal murder of workers on strike at the 6,443-hectare Hacienda Luisita, nearly a hundred students and farmers stormed past a police barricade to hold a protest action in front of the Aquino residence in Quezon City, literally bringing the still-unresolved issue of the massacre to his doorstep.
And just like the garrison-like plantation in Tarlac, Aquino’s house was surrounded by policemen and private army. Farmers said they saw familiar faces of Noynoy’s goons who took part in the 2004 massacre. One man who claims to be just a mere observer in the protest and who tried to link the farmers to Aquino’s closest rival in the elections is constantly seen inside the hacienda—harassing and coercing farmers to give up their fight for justice and land.
On November 16, 2004, farmers waging a strike at the Hacienda Luisita were violently dispersed. Seven farm workers were killed as police and military elements opened fire on the unarmed protesters, who had been fighting for their right to land and fair wages — both of which had been denied them for generations by the Cojuangco landlords of the hacienda.
And after 16 years of Stock Distribution Option (SDO), farm worker beneficiaries have become more impoverished, Mikee Cojuangco’s horses cost more than a month’s worth of food for the Hacienda Luisita farmers. The farmers’ take-home pay plunged to as low as P9.50 ($0.21) a week, and at the same time, they were “victimized” by unfair labor practices.
No doubt there are any number of concerns and criticism regarding the candidacy of Aquino. No doubt he has answers ready for many of these attacks. However, the question of his responsibilities regarding Hacienda Luisita goes directly to his character and capabilities as a potential President. And it is one he has not yet answered.
It will not be resolved by any denial on the part of the Cojuangcos and Aquinos of their role in the tragedy. It will not be resolved by attempting to dismiss protesters as hired guns of Aquino’s leading rivals in the 2010 elections. It will not be resolved by playing on the waning memory of the public, twisting facts and pretending that the death toll was bloated and the massacre instigated by troublemaking activists.
Indeed, those who marched to Aquino’s home to remind him of Hacienda Luisita made several important points.
First, the vastly uneven distribution of land is one of the core problems of the Philippines. That Corazon Cojuangco Aquino failed to implement land reform only reaffirms that the interests of the Cojuangco landlords and the thousands of farmers laboring at Hacenda Luisita will never be reconciled, not by her, and probably not by her son, Noynoy, who has shown even less initiative on the issue than she did.
Second, to those who ask why Aquino is blamed for the sins of his mother’s family, it is for the same reason that he is venerated for the accomplishments of his parents — his own track record is not enough. It is not out of malice that Aquino is judged by the deeds of those closest to him; it is in acknowledgment of the fact that there is no other way to gauge the interests and weaknesses of so insipid a candidate.
Third, no one can cast a ballot for Aquino in good conscience as long as justice is denied, not only to the massacre victims and their kin, but also to the farmers who continue to suffer the harsh working conditions of the Cojuangco landlords. Aquino claims that he owns only a small percentage of stocks of the hacienda, and therefore cannot be blamed for the problems there; yet he also claims that he can facilitate the fair redistribution of the hacienda in five years. Is it any wonder that he is doubted?
To Senator Aquino: we are certain you have prepared a response to the protest action held at your home. We call on you to respond, instead, to the plight of the farmers, caused by your own family, which continues to this day.
No excuses or false accusations will suffice this time. You are running for the highest postion in the land. Quite simply, if you cannot ensure justice in the issue of Hacienda Luisita, then you cannot, and do not deserve to be, President.
