MANILA, Philippines ? Anakpawis partylist Representative Rafael Mariano said Friday that the Supreme Court decision in Hacienda Luisita was a ?positive step for justice to farm workers? as he expressed hopes that the high court would also soon junk the scheme that has prevented the distribution of lands to the farm workers.

?This victory by the Central Azucarera de Tarlac Labor Union (CATLU) is a result of the militant and organized actions by the farmers and farmworkers of Hacienda Luisita,? Mariano said in a statement.

The 6,000-hectare sugar estate in Tarlac is owned by the family of President Benigno Aquino III.

The lawmaker was reacting to a unanimous decision by the court?s second division ordering the Central Azucarera de Tarlac (CAT), which operates the sugar mill and refinery in Hacienda Luisita, to honor its long-established formula in computing the bonus.

The high court said that the benefits enjoyed by the workers were reduced after a bloody strike in 2004, noting that ?this act of petitioner in changing the formula at this time cannot be sanctioned as it indicates a badge of bad faith.?

A decision by the high court is also expected on the long pending petition for a temporary restraining order filed by Hacienda Luisita against a directive from the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) seeking the distribution of the 5,000-hectare sugar plantation to its workers.

Oral argument is set on August 18.

The DAR has ruled that the stock distribution option (SDO) in lieu of land distribution did not improve but rather diminished the living conditions of the hacienda?s 8,000 workers, contrary to the vision of the 1987 Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP).

?The Luisita management?s vengeful and willful changing of the formula of the workers? bonuses after the violent dispersal of the workers and peasant strike clearly demonstrates the anti-worker character of the Cojuangco-Aquinos,? Mariano said.

Mariano, who is also chairman of the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas, said the high court should now deliver complete justice to the farm workers by ?putting the final nail in the coffin? of the SDO scheme.

?The strongest argument of farmers against the SDO is that it was used by the Cojuangco-Aquinos to evade land distribution,? he said.