SC ruling on Luisita expected next week

MANILA, Philippines—A militant farmers’ group on Thursday welcomed a Supreme Court announcement that a final decision on the protracted legal dispute over Hacienda Luisita, the vast Tarlac sugar estate owned by President Benigno Aquino’s Cojuangco clan, would be handed down next week.

“The Filipino peasantry welcomes the announcement that the decision on Hacienda Luisita will be out next week. The distribution of the President and his family’s vast landholdings is long overdue,” said Antonio Flores, spokesperson of the militant Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas.

Supreme Court Spokesperson Midas Marquez recently revealed that a final ruling on the case could be issued at the closing of the high court’s Baguio City summer sessions on April 25.

But while it could mean an end to the Hacienda Luisita farmers’ troubles, the decision could place Aquino in a bind, the KMP leader said.

Chief Justice Renato Corona has said that his impeachment by 188 administration allies at the House of Representatives on December 12, 2011, was motivated by the high court’s decision to order the redistribution of Hacienda Luisita.

The high court is set to rule on the appeal of its November 2011 decision next week, two weeks before the Senate resumes the impeachment trial of Corona, who was impeached for alleged betrayal of public trust, culpable violation of the Constitution and corruption.

Whether the Senate votes to acquit or convict Corona, it will be “politically damaging” to Aquino, said Flores.

A conviction would be perceived as a move by Aquino to get back at Corona, should the SC rule against the President’s family in the Luisita case. An acquittal, on the other hand, would be a Corona victory over Aquino, he said.

“Obviously, an acquittal will be good for Corona. But a conviction of Corona after a decisive decision on Luisita will be seen by the people as a brazen political vengeance by Aquino and the Cojuangcos. Either way, Aquino loses the war,” Flores said.

Flores described the Supreme Court’s plan to decide the agrarian dispute before the Senate impeachment court hands down its verdict in Corona’s impeachment trial as a “good tactical move by the judiciary against the executive’s political bullying.”

“A swift, favorable and profarmer decision on Hacienda Luisita is a preemptive strike against the Malacañang-led impeachment case,” he said.