NEWS RELEASE
January 19, 2011

25 years of Mendiola Massacre:
Farmers press for justice, “free distribution” of Hacienda Luisita

Militant farmers and agrarian reform advocates today commemorated the 25th year of the infamous Mendiola Massacre that transpired during the administration of President Aquino’s mother, the late Corazon Cojuangco-Aquino, and renewed calls for the “free distribution” of Hacienda Luisita and all agricultural lands in the country.

“25 years ago, we demanded the free distribution of lands including Hacienda Luisita. But our demands fell on deaf ears and were instead met by bullets of the first Aquino government,” says Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) secretary general Danilo Ramos.

Those who died in Mendiola on January 22, 1987 and honored by peers as martyrs are: Danilo Arjona, Leopoldo Alonzo, Adelfa Aribe, Dionisio Bautista, Roberto Caylao, Vicente Campomanes, Ronilo Dumanico, Dante Evangelio, Angelito Gutierrez, Rodrigo Grampan, Bernabe Laquindanum, Sonny Boy Perez, and Roberto Yumul.

Today, Ramos said, “the vast majority of farmers remain landless and Hacienda Luisita is still controlled by the Cojuangco-Aquinos. Justice remains elusive to the victims of Mendiola Massacre.”

“Worst, the present Haciendero government of President Aquino is auctioning off our vast tracts of lands to local and foreign big businesses under the guise of luring foreign investments,” the peasant leader said in a forum dubbed “25 Years of Mendiola Massacre: Free Distribution of Hacienda Luisita, Now! Enact the Genuine Agrarian Reform Bill!” held at the Palma Hall of the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City.

The KMP leader said that in the face of the escalating political confrontation between President Aquino and Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona “Hacienda Luisita farm workers are more than determined to push for the free distribution of the lands.”

“We will continue to rely on the strong determination of Luisita farm workers in asserting their rights over the lands and frustrate the obvious political maneuvers of President Aquino to take over the Supreme Court and maintain his family’s control over Hacienda Luisita,” Ramos said.

In November last year, the high tribunal scrapped the stock distribution option scheme implemented in Hacienda Luisita and ordered the distribution of the lands to farm workers. In December, Aquino’s allies in the House of Representatives led by the Liberal Party impeached Corona and after a week, the Cojuangcos filed a motion for clarification and consideration on the high court’s ruling junking the notorious stock distribution option (SDO) scheme in Hacienda Luisita.

Thousands of farmers from Central Luzon and Southern Tagalog led by KMP will set up a camp-out in front of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) in Quezon City today. Tomorrow, the farmers will march and bring their demands for the free distribution of lands at the foot of Mendiola Bridge. #
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KMP National Secretariat
25-B Matiyaga Street, Barangay Central, Quezon City
Philippines
Telefax: 632-4352383
Email: kmp@kilusangmagbubukid.org

Web: www.kilusangmagbubukid.org

Press Statement
20 January 2012

On the 25th anniversary of the Mendiola Massacre

When the Mendiola Massacre happened in Jan. 22, 1987, it dashed all hopes that then-Pres. Cory Aquino would fulfill her electoral promise of implementing genuine land reform. The Cory Aquino regime not only ignored farmers’ calls for agrarian reform, it inflicted violence against farmers asserting such calls. The Mendiola Massacre signaled the repression of farmers struggling for land reform nationwide throughout the Cory Aquino regime.

Today, as we mark the 25th anniversary of the Mendiola Massacre, we declare Noynoy Aquino a failure in agrarian reform like his mother. He has chosen to implement the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program Extension with Reforms or CARPER, which worsened the bankrupt program implemented by his mother. Despite a Supreme Court ruling ordering the distribution of Hacienda Luisita’s lands to farmers, he is maneuvering to maintain his family’s ownership of the lands or to increase the government’s compensation for his family.

Noynoy Aquino’s key policies and programs are set to further the dispossession of farmers and the poor, as well as intensifying repression against those fighting for land reform. The Public-Private Partnership program is premised on handing out huge tracks of lands to big foreign and local capitalists. The Charter Change scheme that is being rushed by his allies aims to allow 100% foreign ownership of lands and public utilities in the country. Oplan Bayanihan, on the other hand, aims to suppress farmers and other sections of society fighting for genuine land reform.

Genuine agrarian reform is the litmus test of change. It is the answer to the centuries-old clamor of majority of our people, the farmers and farm workers, for land. Noynoy Aquino, like his mother, has failed the litmus test of genuine change, of agrarian reform.

Reference: Roger Soluta, KMU secretary-general, 0928-7215313

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MEDIA RELEASE
January 20, 2012


Reference: Gemma Canalis, 09268884655

25 years after Mendiola Massacre
Students join call for justice, swift distribution of Hacienda Luisita
Haciendero Aquino maneuvering to reverse decision


"Quarter a century after the Mendiola Massacre, there's still no justice. No one has been held accountable to the killings and still, the land has not been distributed."

This was the statement of Gemma Canalis, spokesperson of the militant student group League of Filipino Students as they linked arms with other organizations and groups calling out justice for the victims of the Mendiola Massacre and for the swift distribution of Hacienda Luisita.

"No doubt, the Cojuangco-Aquino clan should be held accountable for both the Mendiola and Hacienda Luisita Massacres. And the same issue that took thousands of farmers and youth to the streets twenty five years ago still haunts us, and land reform under Aquino is no different. Haciendera mother, Haciendera son."

"It is becoming evident that reversing the SC decision to distribute the land is part of his motives in the Corona case. We demand the free distribution of Hacienda Luisita lands to the farmer, payment of P1.33 billion earned from the sale of more than 200 hectares of Luisita lands in 1996 and the sale of another 80 hectares for the SCTEX, and profits from the Luisita Industrial Park."

Canalis said that the SC ruling to distribute the Hacienda is a triumph of the the decades long struggle and is not incumbent to whoever the Supreme Court justice is. "The farmers have learned. Their experience under two Aquino presidents is more than enough to make them realize that the swift distribution of the land will not come from a court order but through persistent struggle and mass action."

Canalis said that justice is elusive under Aquino just as much as it was under his mother.

"The fight is not over, all the more because President Aquino is unashamedly exerting effort to delay the decision. The decades long fight for Luisita has taken lives, futures, but we wont stop. We will continue to fight for all those who shed blood for the struggle, for justice.", said Canalis.##

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NEWS RELEASE

January 5, 2011

Luisita tillers press DAR to revoke HLI conversion order

Hacienda Luisita farm workers today petitioned the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) to revoke a 15-year old land-use conversion order it issued to Hacienda Luisita, Inc. and called for the distribution of the lands to farmworkers.

In the petition filed by the Sentro para sa Tunay na Repormang Agraryo (Sentra), counsel for the Alyansa ng mga Manggagawang Bukid sa Asyenda Luisita (Ambala), the farmworkers insisted that the Cojuangcos, President Aquino’s family, violated the terms and conditions of the order and that the 500-hectare lands covered remains undeveloped.

Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) secretary general Danilo Ramos said “the DAR should not play blind and deaf on the violations of the Cojuangcos. It should not be a party to the continuing deception of the Cojuangcos to the farmworkers.”

“The Cojuangco-Aquinos bad practice of duping the farmworkers can be clearly seen in the conversion and sale of the 500-hectare lands without the knowledge and approval of the farmworkers who are the rightful owners of the lands. In fact, the Luisita farmworkers did not get even a single cent from the illegal sale and conversion of the lands,” says Ramos.

The petition cited that “on 14 August 1996, per DAR Conversion Order No. 030601074-764-(95), Series of 1996, the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) approved the application for conversion of the said 500 hectares.”

“It is clear that HLI had no intention of developing or converting the 500 hectares land subject of the DAR conversion order. For instead of ‘developing’ the same pursuant to their undertaking in the application for conversion, it merely caused them to be transferred to other family-owned corporations of the Cojuangcos, LIPCO, Centennary and LRC,” the petition states.

“Clearly, there is no other purpose for the transfer of ownership of the 500 hectares but to take the 500 hectares out of the coverage of the agrarian reform program. The transfer of ownership, which was also without the prior knowledge and approval of the DAR, is a clear violation of the conversion order,” it added.

“From 1996 until this date, despite the issuance of the order for conversion, the 500 hectares remained agricultural in use. Portion of the said land is being cultivated by the farm workers of HLI. Such being the case, there is no reason not to place the said landholding to the coverage of the agrarian reform program,” the petition states. #

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KMP National Secretariat
25-B Matiyaga Street, Barangay Central, Quezon City
Philippines
Telefax: 632-4352383
Email: kmp@kilusangmagbubukid.org
Web: www.kilusangmagbubukid.org

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NEWS RELEASE
January 3, 2011

Farmers on Corona impeachment: Hold GMA accountable, distribute Hacienda Luisita

The militant peasant group Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) today said that farmers will closely keep an eye on the impeachment of Chief Justice Renato Corona and, at the same time, pursue the free distribution of Hacienda Luisita to farmworkers.

“Corona’s impeachment should lead to the decisive indictment and punishment of former President Arroyo. At the same time, the Supreme Court should muster the resolve to decide with finality the distribution of Hacienda Luisita to farmers and farm workers,” says KMP secretary general Danilo Ramos.

Obviously, Ramos said, “President Aquino aims to overturn the recent high court’s ruling to distribute Hacienda Luisita by ousting Corona and taking control of the Supreme Court.”

“Aquino should not make use of Corona’s impeachment to bully the Supreme Court to maintain his family’s control over Hacienda Luisita,” the peasant leader said.

“We will closely keep an eye on the impeachment of the Chief Justice to ensure that former President Arroyo be held accountable for her crimes and, at the same time, pursue the free distribution of Hacienda Luisita to the farm workers,” Ramos said.

A week after Aquino’s allies in the House of Representatives led by the Liberal Party impeached Corona last December, the Cojuangcos filed a motion for clarification and consideration on the Supreme Court’s ruling junking the notorious stock distribution option (SDO) scheme in Hacienda Luisita.

The KMP also announced that a series of protests are scheduled for this month to commemorate the 25th year of the infamous Mendiola Massacre that happened during the presidency of the late Corazon Cojuangco-Aquino, the current President’s mother.

Ramos said that farmers are set to conduct protests in front of the Senate on January 16 in time for the opening of the impeachment trial against the Chief Justice.

“After 25 years, the just and legitimate demand for genuine land reform and the break-up of Hacienda Luisita by the victims of Mendiola Massacre remains unanswered,” says Ramos. #

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KMP National Secretariat
25-B Matiyaga Street, Barangay Central, Quezon City
Philippines
Telefax: 632-4352383
Email: kmp@kilusangmagbubukid.org
Web: www.kilusangmagbubukid.org

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NEWS RELEASE
January 16, 2011

Farmers back Corona impeachment, warns of Aquino control over SC to keep Luisita

More than 200 farmer-protesters led by the peasant group Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) greeted the first day of the Senate impeachment trial against Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona saying “Corona is one of the stumbling blocks in holding former President Arroyo accountable for her crimes against the people but warned of the Aquino administration taking control over the highest court of the land.”

“Indeed, Corona is one of the stumbling blocks in making Arroyo accountable but the people must be warned of a more evil plot of Aquino taking control over the Supreme Court,” says KMP secretary general Danilo Ramos.

Obviously, Ramos said, “President Aquino’s main political motive behind Corona’s impeachment is to take control of the Supreme Court and overturn the recent high court’s ruling to distribute Hacienda Luisita.”

The KMP leader also said “Aquino only appears to make use of the people’s anti-Arroyo sentiments to maintain popularity and cover-up his failure to address the worsening landlessness, poverty, and hunger suffered by the Filipino people.”

“Aquino’s lack of seriousness in making Arroyo accountable can be seen in the weak charges and political accommodation extended by his administration to the former president, plunderer, and human rights violator,” Ramos said.

Ramos called on the people to be critical over Corona’s impeachment and frustrate the Aquino administration’s scheme to dupe the Filipino people.

“The Cojuangco-Aquino family are masters of deception. They have deceived farm workers for more than half-a-century by maintaining control over Hacienda Luisita. We should not be deceived by Aquino’s real motives behind Corona’s impeachment by demanding that Arroyo be sent behind bars and oppose the Cojuangco family’s maneuvers to maintain control over Hacienda Luisita,” Ramos said. #

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KMP National Secretariat
25-B Matiyaga Street, Barangay Central, Quezon City
Philippines
Telefax: 632-4352383
Email: kmp@kilusangmagbubukid.org

Web: www.kilusangmagbubukid.org

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NEWS RELEASE
January 10, 2012

“Ignorance,” KMP says on Tarlac City prosecutor’s finding of probable cause against Luisita tillers

The militant peasant group Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) today described as “ignorance” Tarlac City Prosecution Office’s issuance of a joint resolution finding probable cause against farmwokers of Hacienda Luisita who cultivated the lands sold by President Aquino’s family to the Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC).

In a resolution dated January 3, 2012, Associate Prosecutor Liza C. Olinares, found probable cause and recommended the indictment of 23 farm workers and leaders of the Alyasa ng mga Manggagawang Bukid sa Asyenda Luisita (Ambala) for “grave coercion” and “occupation of real property.” The cases arise from the farmers’ cultivation of the 500-hectare disputed RCBC lands in Barangay Balete inside Hacienda Luisita.

“The Tarlac City prosecutor’s determination of probable cause against Luisita farmworkers assertion of their rights to their lands that was illegally acquired by RCBC from the Cojuangcos clearly demonstrates her ignorance of the highly complicated Hacienda Luisita agrarian dispute,” says KMP secretary general Danilo Ramos.

Ramos said “the prosecutor totally ignored the Luisita farmers’ pending case before the Department of Agrarian Reform for the immediate revocation of the Hacienda Luisita Inc.’s conversion order and the immediate coverage of the RCBC lands under agrarian reform.”

“The lands illegally sold by President Aquino’s relatives to RCBC were covered by agrarian reform and belongs to the farmworkers,” KMP’s Ramos insisted.

Ramos added that “the prosecutor has gone too far into rushing the issuance of the resolution despite the fact that the case is still pending before the Supreme Court and has not yet become final and executory.”

The KMP warned the prosecutor against filing the information before the regular courts and that any issuance of arrest warrants against the farm workers will “add fuel into the fire of the Luisita people’s struggle for land.”

“The Cojuangco-RCBC conspiracy in criminalizing the agrarian dispute and farmworkers will surely intensify the agrarian unrest inside Hacienda Luisita,” the KMP warned. #

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KMP National Secretariat
25-B Matiyaga Street, Barangay Central, Quezon City
Philippines
Telefax: 632-4352383
Email: kmp@kilusangmagbubukid.org
Web: www.kilusangmagbubukid.org

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Press Release
19 January 2012

It’s all about Luisita for PNoy

“HLI’s statement exposed President Aquino’s real motive behind his eagerness to impeach Corona. It has been all about Luisita all along”

This was the statement of Anakpawis Partylist after the Hacienda Luisita Incorporated announced that they will seek for the inhibition of Chief Justice Renato Corona from the Luisita land dispute case.

“While the Filipino people determinedly seek justice and accountability against the crimes of the past administration, President Aquino has nothing else in mind but his family’s personal interest in Hacienda Luisita” Joel Maglunsod, Anakpawis Executive Vice President said.

“It is of absolute callousness that he used not only his power, but also the people’s time and money for his own benefit. Just like in his presidential campaign, he has once against used the people’s anger against Gloria Arroyo for the Cojuangco-Aquino clan’s business and personal interests”

“President Aquino and his relatives wants Corona out for them to be able to take control of the Supreme Court and easily reverse the High Court’s decision to distribute 5,000 hectares of Hacienda Luisita to it’s farm worker beneficiaries” Maglunsod added.

Anakpawis also slammed President Aquino’s lack of seriousness in castigating and holding former President Arroyo accountable for her crimes against the Filipino people.

“Amid his beautiful words and promises, President Aquino has no real intention at all in imprisoning Arroyo. For if he was, it would not taken his administration more than 500 days to file a formal complaint against Arroyo” said Maglunsod.

“The cases filed were even not as strong as it should be and were filed without complete seriousness and desire. He was only forced to file these cases because of strong public pressure and Arroyo’s near escape.” he added.

The militant partylist warned Aquino that his insincerity in holding Arroyo accountable and his use of his power for personal interest would make him a direct target of popular people’s protests.

“Aquino’s vulgar display of callousness makes the people more disgusted in his administration. If he persist in showing insincerity in imprisoning Arroyo, the people especially the toiling masses of workers and peasants would seriously and decisively wage widespread protests against his anti-people and pro-kamag-anak administration” Maglunsod said. ##

Reference: Joel Maglunsod, Anakpawis Executive Vice President, 0949-755-2415

______________________________________________________________________________
Partylist ng masa... ANAKPAWIS
56 K-9 Street, West Kamias, Quezon City 1102
email: anakpawis2003@yahoo.com, anakpawis@gmail.com
visit our website http://anakpawis.net/
 

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