“The fateful incident may be a distant memory for President Aquino and the Cojuangco-Aquinos but Filipinos will never forget Hacienda Luisita massacre.”
By Bulatlat.com
MANILA – – Hacienda Luisita farmers and supporters marked the 11th year of the Hacienda Luisita massacre with a protest at the Ninoy Aquino Memorial Shrine in Quezon City.
Foreign delegates attending the International League of People’s Struggles (ILPS) joined the symbolic action.
KMP Chairperson Rafael Mariano said, “the fateful incident may be a distant memory for President Aquino and the Cojuangco-Aquinos but Filipinos will never forget Hacienda Luisita massacre.”
On Nov. 16, 2004, state forces opened fire at the picketing farmworkers in Hacienda Luisita, Tarlac City. Seven were killed and hundreds more were wounded.
Speaking at the protest action, Mariano said, “Until today, there is no justice fot the victims of the Hacienda Luisita massacre.”
Charges against the alleged perpetrators have been dismissed by the Office of the Ombudsman during the Aquino presidency.
Mariano added, “Hacienda Luisita has become a symbol of the Filipino farmers’ struggle against a despotic landlord and the grave injustices that befell on the peasantry under Aquino’s presidency.”
He said that despite April 24, 2012 Supreme Court decision ordering the distribution of land to farmworker-beneficiaries, the Aquino administration has prevented the actual distribution of lands in Hacienda Luisita. “The Cojuangcos implemented scheme after scheme of maneuvers to undermine the farmers’ struggle and to prevent actual land distribution,” Mariano said.
Anakpawis Rep. Fernando Hicap said the Cojuangco-Aquino clan continues to maintain and control the farmlands through the aryendo system. Hicap said so-called dummies of the Cojuango-Aquinos have leased or bought the land of farmworkers.
Hicap said that while the Cojuangco-Aquinos received P470 million as “just compensation,” the Hacienda Luisita Incorporated has not paid P1.3 billion to farmworker-beneficiaries.
Mariano added the international community “is fully aware of Aquino’s record of human rights violations and the state of injustice endured by Filipinos.”
The group said close to 300 farmers were killed under the Aquino administration.
