DAR chief: We’re ready to distribute the land

Agrarian Reform Secretary Virgilio delos Reyes on Thursday said he was prepared to distribute Hacienda Luisita to its workers once the Supreme Court decision ordering this becomes final.

Delos Reyes said he expected that the court ruling, directing that the 5,000-hectare estate owned by the family of President Aquino, could still be appealed by Hacienda Luisita Inc. (HLI).

Jose Midas Marquez, Supreme Court administrator and spokesperson, confirmed that the ruling could still be subject to appeal, noting that the magistrates overturned their previous position on the issue.

“Considering that we now have a new decision, a motion for reconsideration may still be filed thereon,” Marquez told reporters.

In a July 5 ruling, the high court upheld a decision by the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) and the Presidential Agrarian Reform Commission (PARC) revoking a 1989 stock distribution option (SDO) in lieu of land distribution under the 1988 Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP).

But the court also allowed the workers who had opted to get shares in HLI to affirm their decision.

In the ruling released on Thursday, the court unanimously agreed to rescind the SDO and scrap the reconfirmation process.

“I need a certificate of finality from the Supreme Court and then we’ll go,” Delos Reyes said in a phone interview.

He said the DAR could not enter and intervene in the Hacienda Luisita until the high court had ended the dispute that stemmed from a strike in 2004 in which seven people were killed. The strikers said that the 1989 deal did not improve their lives.

The DAR chief said the work should not be difficult once the high court had cleared the case. “Unlike the other agrarian reform cases, we already know the beneficiaries here,” Delos Reyes said, adding that his department has started preparations for the distribution.

The preparatory stage includes determining how the land will be divided and who will be given land titles. The DAR also has to verify the 6,296 beneficiaries and check this against the list made in 1989, Delos Reyes said.

Unanimous vote

In its 56-page ruling promulgated on Nov. 22 but posted on its website Thursday, the Supreme Court ordered the distribution of 4,915.75 hectares in HLI to the 6,296 registered farmworker-beneficiaries (FWBs).

Voting unanimously, 14 justices, including the three new appointees of Mr. Aquino said: “In line with our finding that control over agricultural lands must always be in the hands of the farmers, we reconsider our ruling that the qualified FWBs should be given an option to remain as stockholders of HLI … Upon a review of the facts and circumstances, we realize that the FWBs will never have control over these agricultural lands for as long as they remain stockholders of HLI.”

The ruling penned by Associate Justice Presbitero Velasco Jr. also directed HLI to pay the farmers over P1.33 billion, representing the amount generated from the sale of the “converted” portions of the hacienda for commercial use.

Interestingly, the magistrates issued the ruling amid the escalating rift between Malacañang and the tribunal concerning the aborted foreign trip of former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. Critics have branded the court as pro-Arroyo since 12 of its justices were appointed by the ailing former President during her nine-year presidency.

Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio inhibited himself from the deliberation since he used to be a lawyer of Rizal Commercial Banking Corp., which bought a portion of the disputed agricultural estate.

While they all agreed that Hacienda Luisita should be allocated to the farmers, some of the justices had different views on the land valuation, the use of the “operative fact” in the case and other legal matters.

Chief Justice Renato Corona and Associate Justices Lucas Bersamin, Ma. Lourdes Sereno and Arturo Brion issued their separate concurring and dissenting opinions.

In ending the decades-old dispute over the hacienda, the high tribunal partially granted the separate appeals of PARC, DAR, Alyansa ng mga Manggagawang Bukid ng Hacienda Luisita (Ambala), the supervisory group of HLI, and the Farmworkers Agrarian Reform Movement Inc. (FARM).

Basic issues

Recognizing the various legal questions raised by the petitioners, the court limited its argument to seven basic issues:

The application of the operative fact doctrine.

The constitutionality of Section 31 of Republic Act No. 6657, otherwise known as the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law.

The issue on compulsory acquisition of lands.

Compensation of HLI.

Whether the FWBs can sell their lands to HLI.

Grounds for the revocation of the SDO.

The issue over the control of the agricultural lands.

To ensure that FWBs would remain landowners, the court barred them from selling the acquired lands for the next 10 years as defined in the “retention limits” of RA 6657.

It said allowing the farmers to sell their lands back to HLI “smacks of outright indifference to the provision on retention limits under RA 6657.”

“This court, in effect, would be allowing … the previous landowner, to own more than five hectares of agricultural land, which we cannot countenance,” the justices said.

Constitutionality issue

As to the legality of Section 31 of the RA 6657, the majority of the justices dismissed the argument of FARM that the constitutionality of the said provision of the agrarian reform law was the lis mota, or the main cause of the lawsuit.

Asserting its finding in its July 5 ruling, the court said the “contention is unmeritorious.”

“We maintain that this court is not compelled to rule on the constitutionality of Sec(tion) 31 of RA 6657… Having clarified this matter, all other points raised by both FARM and Ambala concerning the constitutionality of RA 6657 deserve scant consideration,” the tribunal said.

It added that the petitioners were not able to prove that there was a violation of the Constitution that “may justify the resolution of the issue of constitutionality.”

While it placed the hacienda under compulsory coverage, the tribunal exempted from distribution the 500-ha property covered by a conversion order dated Aug. 14, 1996, and an 80.51-ha lot sold to the government in developing the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway.

But the court said the P1.33 billion in proceeds of the sale, minus the 3 percent corporate expenditures, should also be given to the FWBs.

“For this purpose, the DAR is ordered to engage the services of a reputable accounting firm approved by the parties to audit the books of HLI and (its subsidiary) Centenary Holdings Inc.,” the court said.

Finally, the court directed the DAR to provide a compliance report six months after the finality of judgment.

It also upheld its earlier decision to recompense HLI by using the value of lands at the time the PARC approved the SDO on Nov. 21, 1989.