Farmers plead for enforcement of conversion order in Hacienda Luisita

ELMER Mallari, one of the farmers demanding that government honor a land conversion deal in Hacienda Luisita, shows a copy of the Supreme Court resolution allowing the conversion. GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE

A group of farmers and agrarian reform beneficiaries from Hacienda Luisita in Tarlac are pleading for the government to heed a 1996 conversion order that allows 500 hectares of the sugar estate owned by the family of former President Benigno Aquino III to be used for industrial purpose.

The appeal was triggered by fears expressed by the farmers that an order would be issued by the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) to stop the conversion.

If such an order is issued by the DAR, the farmers said it would disrupt the sale of the land for industrial purpose and the implementation of a Supreme Court decision in 2012 that seeks to distribute the P1.3 billion expected from the sale to more than 6,000 farmers in the estate.

One of the leaders of the farmers, Noel Mallari, told the Inquirer the payout has yet to be made to farmers.

“We are afraid that another group in Hacienda Luisita” would lay claim to the money,  Mallari said. He said if the conversion order is revoked, “the P1.3 billion that farmers await would disappear.”

“Why should the order be revoked when there’s already a decision?” Mallari said. “Only the implementation and audit are lacking,” he said.

In 2012, Alyansa ng mga Manggagawang Bukid sa Asyenda Luisita (Ambala) filed with the DAR a petition to revoke the 1996 order, alleging that Hacienda Luisita Inc. (HLI), the Cojuangco-owned company that supervises the estate, and the new managers of Luisita “failed to comply” with conditions set by the order.

According to the Ambala petition, HLI failed to pursue a development plan provided for in its application for conversion “and instead disposed of the 500 hectares” to other companies owned by the Cojuangco family and to Rizal Commercial and Banking Corp.

“It also failed to implement the development plan,” the petition read.

But, according to Edwin Cabilangan, one of the leaders of the farmers, “if the conversion is revoked, there won’t be P1.3 billion.” “This is the payment for the 500 hectares. If the conversion is revoked, it will be classified as agricultural with lower value,” Cabilangan said.

“We plead that they don’t touch the 500 hectares anymore,” Mallari said. He said the conversion would create “opportunities” for succeeding generations of farmers in Luisita. “The land is not getting bigger but the population inside Hacienda Luisita is,” Mallari said.

Mallari said at least 1,000 farmer-beneficiaries share his group’s stand.