Landowners also entitled to compensation - Noy

LEGASPI CITY, Philippines – The judiciary should recognize the right of landowners to “just compensation” just as it has upheld the right of farmers to own the land they till, President Aquino said yesterday.

Aquino’s pronouncement came a day after the Supreme Court (SC) junked the stock option deal for Hacienda Luisita – which is owned by his family – and ordered the distribution of land to more than 6,000 tenant farmers.

“No. 1, you empower the farmers by giving them land to till. That part is okay. The second part is agrarian reform: Let’s not waste capital, meaning there should be just compensation,” Aquino stressed.

“Landowners should not be stripped of their landholding without compensation. They can use the compensation as capital for other industries, which can generate more jobs,” he said.

“I hope those two objectives are met, and not just one sector is favored at the expense of the other,” Aquino maintained.

He said that even if he is the President and the most prominent member of the Cojuangco-Aquino clan, he has no choice but to make sure the SC order is complied with.

“They decide on a question of law, there should be compliance. I don’t think that’s optional,” Aquino pointed out. But he declined to comment on the SC decision itself, saying he has yet to get hold of a copy of the ruling.

“I don’t think I am competent to comment on it, because I haven’t read the decision. And there are other pressing matters on my plate right now,” he said.

Asked if he finds the timing of the release of the decision suspicious, Aquino said, “I will adhere to the presumption of regularity at this point in time, unless given contrary evidence.”

For senators, Gregorio Honasan and Francis Pangilinan, the SC decision is unmistakably a big leap for the government’s land reform program.

“By giving our farmers control over their land, we accomplish our ultimate objective of giving our farmers control over their lives,” Honasan, chairman of the Senate committee on agrarian reform, said.

“This will also be an all-important precedent to similar cases,” he added.

He said the development will provide impetus to the Comprehensive Agrarian reform Program (CARP) whose term has been extended until June 2014. Some 250,000 hectares of land are set for distribution under CARP.

“It (decision) realizes the promise of social justice in the 1987 Constitution for the state to undertake an agrarian reform program founded on the right of farmers and regular farm workers to own the land they till,” he said.

“Our next crucial challenge then will be to make the land viable and productive in order to improve the farmers’ incomes and release them from bondage,” Pangilinan, chairman of the Senate committee on agriculture and food, said.

“We must give our farmer-workers their due. They are our crucial link to our food supply, as such we must do all we can to secure them,” he said.

“The end goal really ought to be increasing the incomes of our farmers. Many of our lands are idle and unproductive, forcing most farmers to resell lands given to them,” he said.

He said the Department of Agriculture should work with the Departments of Agrarian Reform, Trade and Industry, local government units and even with non-government organizations to ensure that the distributed lands would provide more income to farmer-owners.

“The act of distributing lands will not mean anything more than a moral victory for the farmers if the government treats such as the end goal. The reason CARP has failed is that the focus was on land distribution rather than on productivity and increasing farmers’ income,” Pangilinan said.

“It is a sad irony that our most crucial link to our food supply is also the weakest link in the chain. We urge the government to extend support to our farmers and provide the necessary linkages according to their needs,” he added.

Agrarian Reform Secretary Virgilio de los Reyes said they are now in the process of verifying the identities of beneficiaries of Hacienda Luisita land distribution.

‘Long way to go’

Despite the SC order, land reform in the country still “has a long way to go,” according to the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan). The militant group also called for justice for those who lost their lives fighting for land reform.

“The victory is a testament to the justness of the farmers’ struggle. So many made the ultimate sacrifice so that this day would come,” said Bayan secretary-general Renato Reyes.

The spirit of genuine land reform cannot simply be found in existing laws like CARPER. If anything, the Luisita dispute shows how government land reform programs became dismal failures for so many years,” Bayan said.

“The land has already been paid for through the blood and sweat of farmers over the past five decades. The landowners profited immensely from the work of the farm workers while the farm workers got nothing,” Reyes said.

The group said other landowners employing “stock distribution option” are now facing legal challenges because of the Luisita ruling. “Big landlords are wary because the decades-old swindling through the stock option may now be questioned in court by the farmer,” Reyes said.

At the same time, the group asked the Office of the Ombudsman to investigate and file charges against police and military personnel involved in the deaths of seven protesting farmers in Hacienda Luisita seven years ago.

“It would only be fitting that the farmers get true and complete justice, and this includes justice for all those who died fighting for land,” Reyes said.

Feliz Nacpil Jr., chairman of the Alyansang Manggagawang Bukid sa Asyenda or Ambala, called on the Cojuangco family to immediately implement the SC order.

“We are very hopeful that they will respect the SC’s decision. They themselves want to have peace in Hacienda Luisita so let them abide by the Court’s decision,” Nacpil said.

Fr. Edu Gariguez, executive secretary of CBCP-National Secretariat for Social Action, Justice and Peace (Nassa), said the farmers’ struggle doesn’t end with the awarding of land to them.

“Land distribution is just a primary step in genuine land reform. We will work to ensure that the farmers would be given the needed support services to assist the farmers in the production and social enterprise. Without this support, the farmers are always in danger of losing their lands,” he said. “The Catholic Church mission on Luisita would be continued,” he said.

Emeritus Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Oscar Cruz also said more challenges lie ahead for farmers and that the SC decision is “just the first step.”

Meanwhile, Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman said Hacienda Luisita farmers are entitled to cash-for-work and skills development programs of the government. She said the farmers should take advantage of the programs to augment their earnings, especially once they become owners of the land they till.

“We have an ongoing provision already for self-employment assistance program or SEA-K. We have also undertaken cash for work (program). This is an inter-agency effort led by the governor of Tarlac and we are part of that effort,” Soliman said in a text message to The STAR. – With Marvin Sy, Rhodina Villanueva, Helen Flores, Ric Sapnu, Evelyn Macairan