Cover image via tinypic.com
Tarlac police and guards hired by the Cojuangco-owned Tadeco, secured a portion of Hacienda Luisita that they say is NOT covered by the agrarian reform
However, photos circulating in the internet isn't as decent as it seems.
VIOLENCE ESCALATING. A farmer is held by policemen in Hacienda Luisita, Tarlac. All photos from Unyon ng mga Manggagawa sa Agrikultura (UMA) – Rappler
Image via Unyon ng Manggagawang Agrikultura
Last October 2013, land titles were distributed to farmer-beneficiaries, but reports said that violence is escalating in the agricultural fields since last December
BURNED HUTS. This farmer's hut was said to have been destroyed by the Tadeco guards
Image via Unyon ng Manggagawang Agrikultura
Here's from the 2013 reports, where farmers were receiving a portion of the promised land
FINALLY. Alcayda Acosta, a 78-year-old resident of Barangay Cutcut, takes her oath as qualified agrarian reform beneficiary in Hacienda Luisita. She began tilling the land as farmworker in 1963. Photo courtesy of DAR-PIO
Image via Rappler
The process of the distribution is as follows: DAR picks from a raffle drum the names of farmer-beneficiaries. Upon the selection of their names, they are given their Lot Allocation Certificate (LAC), which determines the location of their land. They are then told their rights and obligations to their newly-acquired land.
Whose land is it anyway?
The village of Balete, where most of the violence is concentrated, sits on land that Tadeco and the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) maintain belongs to the corporation, based on a 1989 Supreme Court decision. The decision excluded the land from the land to be distributed to farmworkers under the CARP. (READ: Farmers: DAR keeping prime Hacienda Luisita lots)
But Ambala says the agricultural areas in Balete are part of land intended for farmers. They are included in a notice of land reform coverage issued by DAR on Dec 17, 2013.
But farmers' malcontent runs deeper. Some continue to condemn the land title distribution in October 2013 as a hoax because, in order to obtain land titles, the farmers must commit to paying amortization. (Rappler)
Kids, probably you don't know about the Hacienda Luisita Masscare, but let us break it down for you
Image via Human Rights Philippines
Image via Tessairini
Image via Tessairini
Image via Political Watchhunt
The Hacienda Luisita massacre is the worst slaughter of Filipino workers in recent years. It underlines the fraud of bourgeois "democracy," which rains death on the exploited and oppressed fighting for their rights. It is all the more significant because the police and army attack was ordered directly from the central government, by Labor Secretary Patricia Sto. Tomas, and was carried out on behalf of the Cojuangco family, prominent landowners including former president Corazon Cojuangco Aquino.
The current president, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, responded to the mass killing with empty platitudes and "prayers." Spokesmen for the Hacienda justified the bloodbath as a "legitimate exercise of state power," saying the work stoppage was "illegal and left-inspired." Plantation workers had gone on strike November 6 demanding the reinstatement of some 327 unionists, including nine union leaders, fired ten days earlier by the management of the hacienda and the sugar mill (Central Azucarera de Tarlac, CAT).
As thousands of strikers and their supporters occupied the facilities, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) declared it was assuming jurisdiction for the dispute and ordered in three military battalions to take down the picket lines and disperse the strikers. – Internationalist.org
Here's a short documentary about Hacienda Luisita, where the farmers were speaking about their situation. They receive P 9.50/week, and get paid
P 1.5/day.
How rich are the Cojuangcos? (P.S. Hen. Antonio Luna is involved)
"Ito ang literal na hanggang tanaw mo… Sa IYO." – Lourd De Veyra
Ginamit nga ba ng pamilya Cojuangco ang pera ng Unang Republika ng Pilipinas para palawakin ang kanilang kayamanan?
