Luisita: The Promised Land

Photo by Kenneth Guda of Pinoy Weekly

Sprawling across the Central Luzon province of Tarlac, the 6, 453-hectare Hacienda Luisita, which is currently owned by the Cojuangco family, bears the sweetest of promises and perhaps the oldest of disputes.

For five decades, the vast tract of land has become the flagship case of agrarian reform problem in the country, as past and present governments grappled with the issue of land distribution to Luisita farmers. Agrarian reform programs were issued almost decade after decade, but all these programs left Luisita untouched. Up to this day, Cojuangcos remain as the king and queen of the kingdom that should have been distributed to the farmers four decades ago.

Cojuangcos first ascended into control of Luisita in 1957, when Jose Cojuangco Sr. bought majority shares of the Central Azucarera de Tarlac, which includes the Hacienda Luisita, from the Spanish company Compania General de Tabacos de Filipinas (Tabacalera). The money that Cojuangcos used for the purchase was loaned by the Central Bank and the Government Service Insurance System . The loan was granted under the condition that the land will be distributed to the farmers after 10 years.

Hacienda Luisita should have been distributed to the farmers in 1976, but the promised land remained in the hands of the Cojuangcos. A legal issue then arose, dragging the land dispute into court. In 1985, the Manila Regional Trial Court ordered the distribution of the land to farmers. But when the EDSA uprising developed in 1986 and lifted Corazon Cojuangco Aquino into power, a shareholder of Hacienda Luisita Inc., the court decision came to naught. (read  full timeline)

Fast forward to present day. Not much has changed in terms of ownership of the Luisita. Cojuangcos still enjoy the exclusive right to profit from the land which farmers have fought for in many years. And with Sen. Noynoy Aquino’s blunt statement last September saying his family may leave Luisita, the land fertile with the toiling masses’ struggle once again affirms itself as a promised land. #

Revisiting Luisita

This blog was set up to serve as 1) an archive of resources related to the ongoing struggle for land and justice in Hacienda Luisita 2) as running account of activities related to the upcoming caravan to Hacienda Luisita on Nov. 16 to commemorate the brutal massacre of striking agricultural workers five years ago (thus Luisita 5). News articles, essays, poetry, photos and other materials on the struggle in Hacienda Luisita will be linked and embedded in entries detailing the developments in the Cojuangco-owned tract of land in Tarlac.

The first few entries will lay down the situation and struggle of Luisita farmers and farm workers under the hands of the Cojuangcos, who have managed the hacienda for five decades now. Past articles and timelines related to the land dispute will be featured, as well as analyses of the bogus agrarian reform being implemented at present. But most of the articles will discuss and revisit the fateful day of November 16, 2004, wherein seven striking agri-workers were slain by bullets during the bloody dispersal of military forces stationed in the hacienda. Up to now, justice remains elusive to victims and farmers.

We hope that this blog will help bring the issue in Luisita back to the forefront, as Luisita farmers vow to intensify their struggle for land. Their issue is not merely a land dispute problem – their issue captures the social justice problem in this land run by the wealthy and powerful few. We want presidentiables declare their position and agenda on the decades-old Luisita problem and pressure them to make necessary steps as early as now. And doing that requires a stream of support for the Luisita farmers who are once again faced with the threat of eviction.

For sure, the issue in Luisita will never die for as long as justice remains denied to farmers and martyrs, and for as long as genuine land reform remains a promise – just as this blog will remain relevant even in the years ahead. #