Bishops twit Aquino: Give up Luisita

Several Catholic bishops on Monday urged President Aquino to be the Filipinos’ living example in emulating national hero Jose Rizal by distributing his relatives’ sprawling Hacienda Luisita to its farmers.

If Rizal sacrificed his life for the country, Mr. Aquino must also give up his family’s large sugar estate under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program with Reform Extension (Carper) law, said Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo.

“Rizal sacrificed his life for our homeland that’s why all of us, especially those who are well-off and those who have gained from the country’s wealth, must be ready to give to the poor,” Pabillo said over Church-run Radyo Veritas on Monday.

“That’s a challenge to President Aquino. Is he ready to let go of his relatives’ Hacienda Luisita for the sake of the people, of the 10,000 farmer-beneficiaries of the estate?” asked Pabillo, who is also head of the Catholic bishops’ National Secretariat for Social Action.

The prelate was responding to Mr. Aquino’s call during the celebration of Rizal’s 150th birth anniversary on Sunday for Filipinos to measure up to the challenge of the national hero, who never allowed himself to stray from the straight path.

Lead by example

“Not everyone is called to offer his life for his country, but for most of us, heroism can be measured in the crossroads we face everyday,” the President said.

Pabillo agreed with Mr. Aquino that every Filipino must aspire to become heroes like Rizal in one’s own little ways.

But the bishop stressed that the President—as the country’s most powerful leader—must take the lead.

“A leader’s heroism can be truly measured by how much of his wealth he can offer to the nation,” Pabillo noted.

Last year, Mr. Aquino announced that he was adopting a “hands-off” policy in the unresolved dispute over the distribution of Hacienda Luisita, a 6,453-hectare sugar plantation in Tarlac, owned by his Cojuangco relatives.

The President has said that he no longer has an interest in the row at the plantation because he had divested himself of shares in the company.

But Pabillo stressed that Mr. Aquino could not just “wash his hands” of the issue, saying that as President, he can do something to ensure that the law was implemented.

Court decision awaited

The Supreme Court has yet to decide on the legality of a decision by the Presidential Agrarian Reform Council scrapping a 1989 stock distribution option (SDO) in lieu of land distribution to tenant tillers.

The SDO was initially allowed in the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) enacted by Mr. Aquino’s mother, the late President Corazon Aquino, in 1988 to implement a campaign promise to uphold social justice.

Last year, Hacienda Luisita struck a compromise deal with its workers offering them either to retain their shares of stock or get parcels of land from 1,366 hectares of the plantation. The Catholic Church opposed the deal.

Marbel Bishop Dinualdo Gutierrez said it was easy for Mr. Aquino to tell Filipinos to try to be like Rizal but he himself could not do so.

“It is not that simple to be a hero. You know, if you want to be a hero, your attitude must be toward others, toward our country,” Gutierrez said also over Radyo Veritas.

Novaliches Bishop Emeritus Teodoro Bacani said Mr. Aquino’s call to the Filipinos was inspiring but added the President must take the lead and become the nation’s “rallying point” for such a challenge.