House probe of Luisita toll collection sought

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO—Anakpawis Representative Rafael Mariano has asked the House committee on transportation to investigate Hacienda Luisita Inc. (HLI) for its alleged illegal collection of fees from motorists using a road in the company’s sugar estate in Tarlac to get to the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEx).

Mariano sought the investigation through House Resolution No. 1329 that he filed on Monday.

Jose “Peping” Cojuangco Jr., one of the owners of the HLI and an uncle of President Aquino, said Anakpawis and Mariano have no basis to call for a probe.

Mariano’s call came a day ahead of a meeting set by the Toll Regulatory Board (TRB) today (Tuesday, May 31) among representatives of HLI, Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) and motorists, said TRB spokesperson Julius Corpuz.

The TRB, said Corpuz, was “more than willing to attend the probe and cooperate to come up with an immediate resolution to the issue.”

“What basis will they give this time? That’s a private road,” Cojuangco said by telephone on Monday.

The fees (P20 for cars, P50 for vans and smaller delivery trucks, and P100 for trucks and buses) are for the road’s maintenance and repair, he said in previous interviews.

Cojuangco was referring to the 5.5 kilometer San Miguel access road that HLI built and extended by 2.5 km in 2006. This road is connected to the 1.1 km Luisita interchange of the SCTEx in Tarlac City.

The road is not part of the 80 hectares that BCDA bought from HLI to give SCTEx right-of-way, said BCDA president Arnel Casanova.

Stretching almost 94 km, the SCTEx was built by the government using P34.106 billion, mostly from two loans from the Japanese government.

But the San Miguel access road, Casanova said, is for “public use” since that was the commitment of Cojuangco’s elder brother, Pedro, president of HLI, to then BCDA president Narciso Abaya in an April 2006 letter.

Casanova said the BCDA agreed to put the Luisita interchange near the HLI property to connect the Luisita Industrial Park with the Clark and Subic Freeports through the SCTEx.

“We welcome all actions by our government officials so that the public may understand the issue and the HLI can explain its basis for collecting fees,” Casanova said by telephone on Monday.

The HLI put up billboards announcing the collection of “service fees” weeks before it began collecting these on May 17.

Cojuangco said the TRB has no jurisdiction over the San Miguel access road since it is a private road.

In the resolution, Mariano said the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) has called the HLI act as “arbitrary and illegal and tantamount to corruption.”

HLI is 33-percent owned by farm workers in the more than 6,000 hectare Hacienda Luisita. The Tarlac Development Corp., controlled by the Cojuangco family, owns 67 percent of HLI. The late former President Corazon Aquino, Mr. Aquino’s mother, is a member of the Cojuangco clan.

An agrarian dispute in the sugar estate has been pending at the Supreme Court since 2005.

Cojuangco said farmers, residents and locators enjoy free use of the San Miguel access road.

In a statement, KMP said Batangas Representative Hermilando Mandanas, chair of the House committee on ways and means, has received reports that HLI only issues stubs, not receipts, for payment of fees.

Danilo Ramos, KMP secretary-general, said HLI required vehicle owners in Hacienda Luisita’s 10 villages in Tarlac City and in La Paz and Concepcion towns to register with the HLI and get stickers for P50 as gate pass.

Cojuangco said this matter was being discussed with village leaders. Tonette Orejas, Inquirer Central Luzon