Luisita farmers seek DOJ probe of continuing military presence

MANILA, Philippines—Farmers of Hacienda Luisita on Monday asked Justice Secretary Leila de Lima to investigate the continuing presence of soldiers inside the sprawling sugarcane plantation owned by the family of President Benigno Aquino III in Tarlac.

In a two-page letter of urgent appeal, the United Luisita Workers Union (Ulwu), the Alyansa sa mga Manggagawang Bukid sa Asyenda Luisita (Ambala) and the Unyon ng mga Mangagawa sa Agrikultura (Uma) urged De Lima to look into the presence of the military “virtually in almost 10 village communities of Hacienda Luisita.”

“Our group found out numerous cases of human rights violations perpetrated by the military and their civilian agents against members of Ambala and Ulwu,” read the letter dated March 19, 2012.

“Cases of surveillance and interrogations by the military, especially among the members of our organization, were among (those) recorded,” it added.

The military allegedly accused some Ambala and Ulwu leaders of being members of the communist New People’s Army while Ambala chair Felix Nacpil Jr. “received death threats.”

More harm feared

“We also listed an incident of house burning. These cases…warrant immediate attention. We are worried that if this will not be investigated, more violations will sprout because the perpetrators remain at large and, at any given time, will again harm our ranks,” the letter said.

The letter noted that the land dispute between the farmers and the President’s maternal relatives remained unresolved in the Supreme Court.

“Honorable Secretary, the land case involving the President and his relatives is still locked in legal battle for ownership against the 6,296 farm worker beneficiaries…The high court has yet to finalize its decision to award the vast land holdings to the farm workers,” the farmers said.

“We can see no other reason why the military insists on staying in our communities but only (for) the land (dispute),” they added.

Significant deployment

The three groups said that since President Aquino assumed office in 2010, there had been a “significant deployment of soldiers” at the hacienda from nearby Camp Aquino, the headquarters of the military’s Northern Luzon Command.

They said that during an initial fact-finding mission on March 10, they discovered that the military had never left Hacienda Luisita since the 2004 violent dispersal of striking workers.

“The presence of the military in our community will not and will never be any help (in distributing) the Hacienda Luisita (lands). In fact, they became an instrument to suppress our democratic rights to organize and peacefully assemble,” the letter said.

“The farmers are afraid to go to their farm lands whenever soldiers are around. We cannot blame them because of their past experiences… Past wounds cannot (be) healed by (the soldiers) cleaning drainage, cutting grass and showing anti-insurgency films,” it said.

“That is why we are seeking your help…As a former (Commission on) Human Rights chair, we are confident that you will voice out fair judgment regarding our particular issue.”