MANILA, Philippines – Malacañang assured farmer-beneficiaries yesterday that the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) was expeditiously working toward distributing land to them as mandated by the Comprehensive Agrarian Program Extension with Reforms (CARPER) Law. Read the rest of this entry »

Hacienda Luisita farm workers 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. Read the rest of this entry »

MANILA, Philippines – Even before its 2014 target deadline, the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) has maintained its position to distribute the remaining 1.093 million hectares of agricultural lands under the agrarian reform program.

Agrarian Reform Secretary Virgilio de los Reyes said the budget for landowners’ compensation is no longer much of a problem unlike before when it used to be the biggest stumbling block to land distribution. Read the rest of this entry »

MANILA, Philippines – The Supreme Court (SC) yesterday dismissed a petition of a lawyer questioning the legality of Executive Order No. 883 issued by the previous administration in May last year that granted Career Executive Service Officer (CESO) rank to eligible lawyers in the executive branch. Read the rest of this entry »

PEPING SAYS: On Hacienda Luisita, Postscript has received an email from businessman Jose “Peping” Cojuangco saying:

“Whenever I can, I follow your column which I find to be one of the fair commentaries currently in the media. I write you to clarify certain facts about Hacienda Luisita. Read the rest of this entry »

MANILA, Philippines – The government is standing by its order in 2005 for the distribution of land, not shares of stocks, to farmer-beneficiaries of Hacienda Luisita, the sugar estate owned by President Aquino’s family in Tarlac. Read the rest of this entry »

ANGELES CITY, Philippines – The 12-member council of Tarlac City has come out with a resolution, saying that the recent Supreme Court’s order for a referendum on stock distribution option (SDO) among farmfolk “will only obfuscate the real objective of land reform.” Read the rest of this entry »

TARLAC CITY, Philippines – Hundreds of farmers working at the Cojuangco-owned Hacienda Luisita Inc. (HLI) yesterday disclosed that they are in favor of the stock distribution plan and not the distribution of farmlands.

Jojo Zuñiga, spokesman for the group claiming as members some 7,441 legitimate Luisita farmers, told The STAR that they favor the stock distribution option (SDO) the HLI management had offered. Read the rest of this entry »

COJUANGCO-AQUINO CLAN MOVING TO ‘SOW DISUNITY’

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) have closed ranks with militant farmers in rejecting the recent Supreme Court (SC) order for the Department of Agrarian Reform to hold a referendum among Hacienda Luisita Inc. (HLI) farm workers for them to choose between land distribution and staying with the corporate structure on land ownership through the stock distribution option (SDO) of the vast estate the basis of which, called the stock distribution plan (SDP), the Tribunal upheld as illegal. Read the rest of this entry »

MANILA, Philippines – The Supreme Court (SC)’s decision on Hacienda Luisita drew condemnation yesterday from militant groups.

“The Supreme Court’s cowardly act clearly demonstrates that it is an instrument of deception, oppression and exploitation. It subscribes to the politics of accommodation of the Aquino government,” Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas secretary-general Danilo Ramos said in a statement. Read the rest of this entry »