Pahayagan ng Partido Komunista ng Pilipinas ANG Pinapatnubayan ng Marxismo-Leninismo-Maoismo English Edition Vol. XLI No. 16 August 21, 2010 www.philippinerevolution.net Editorial The struggle in Hacienda Luisita is the struggle of the entire Filipino peasantry acienda Luisita symbolizes the semicolonial President Benigno Cojuangco-Aquino III quickly and semifeudal system that shackles the coun- applauded the agreement even as he denied any H try to underdevelopment and perennial crisis. knowledge about it, claiming that the HLI issue is an Its long and continuing history is a history of un- internal corporate dispute. speakable exploitation and oppression, intense class The Cojuangcos' return to power once again high- struggle and the age-old fight for social justice. lights the struggle for genuine land reform in the ha- The Cojuangco clan is relentlessly maneuvering cienda and the use of power to suppress the struggle. and devising schemes to retain its monopoly over the The Cojuangcos’ refusal to distribute Hacienda hacienda and prevent its distribution to the farmers Luisita is the single biggest issue that threatens to and farmworkers. The clan is even more audacious now shatter Aquino’s façade as the champion of meaning- that it has regained control of Malacañang. ful change. The intensifying class conflict in the haci- Just last week, the Cojuangcos concoct- enda is proof that his rule is no differ- ed a bogus “compromise agreement” and ent from that of all previous regimes shoved it down the throats of the farmers which served only the interests of and farmworkers through force, deception, big landlords, compradors and for- bribery and divide and rule tactics. The fake eigners. It once again focuses the agreement purports that the farmers and people’s attention on the oppression farmworkers have opted for the continua- and poverty of the farmers and tion of the Stock Distribution Option farmworkers in Hacienda Luisita as (SDO) scheme instead of land distribu- well as in many more haciendas in tion. There is no doubt the agreement the country. was intended to preempt the Supreme Since the establishment of Court’s hearing of the petition to the puppet republic, land re- revoke the temporary restrain- form programs adopted by rul- ing order on the Presidential ing regimes have been invaria- Agrarian Reform Council bly false and deceptive. Instead (PARC)’s order in 2005 to subject of ending feudal and semifeudal ex- the hacienda lands to compulso- ploitation and oppression, they did ry distribution. nothing to alleviate the farmers’ Proposed 2-year Luisita compromise NPA seizes 10 firearms This issue’s addition to basic deal is worthless PAGE 6 education highlights... PAGE 2 PAGE 9 plight which even worsened through the decades. social justice is still denied the tillers of the land who Land has become more concentrated in the hands of created the wealth of the Cojuangcos. old and new landlords and foreign imperialist corpora- The struggle in Hacienda Luisita has become the tions, thus raising the number of landless farmers. symbol of the nationwide struggle for genuine land re- Faced with worsening poverty and hunger, the form. It has also become the focal point in the fight peasantry is resorting to every possible avenue in its against the reactionary Aquino regime. Aquino's de- continuing struggle for genuine land reform. Whatev- fense of the Cojuangcos in their vehement opposition er measure the reactionary regime undertakes to de- to land reform has made clear his stand against the ceive, silence and suppress them, the farmers will tire- masses of farmers and farmworkers. lessly oppose the bogus CARP, its deceptive continua- The struggle in Hacienda Luisita must be stead- tion in the form of CARPER, the SDO scheme and oth- fastly pursued and held high as a rallying banner in all er similar tricks. parts of the country. Let it spark other major struggles The masses of farmers and farmworkers know full of the peasant masses and let it fan the flames of the well that the Cojuangco family will never give up the peasantry’s nationwide struggle for genuine land re- estate. Since the Cojuangcos inherited the hacienda form in the face of all obstacles. from the Spanish colonizers and its further expansion At the same time, agrarian revolution is proceed- in the decades that followed, the clan has lived off ing nationwide. It is bound to make great strides the sweat and blood of farmers and farmworkers. They alongside the advancement of the armed struggle and are even more bent at holding on to the hacienda now the establishment of revolutionary bases in the coun- that its commercial and semi-industrial operations are tryside. ~ generating billions of pesos in revenues. Meanwhile, The Hacienda Luisita agreement is worthless he compromise agreement devised by Hacienda Luisita Incorporated tares for distribution from the (HLI) to prevent the distribution of land to farmers and retain the 4,915 hectares of agricultural land TCojuangcos' control over the estate is bogus and worthless. The covered in the original SDO. peasants' alleged acquiescence was secured through bribes, deception, The Cojuangcos claim that the threats and maneuvers. “agreement” was ratified by 7,300 The farmers were made to tribution Option (SDO) scheme or farmers (out of the total 10,500 choose whether they would hold on receive a very small piece of land. listed) and that only a little more to their shares under the Stock Dis- The HLI allotted only 1,366 hec- than 1% (139 individuals) chose to get land. If the agreement were im- ANG plemented, less than 200 hectares Contents would be distributed. United Luisita Workers Union Vol. XLI No. 16 August 21, 2010 (ULWU) chair Lito Bais and other Editorial Struggle in Hacienda Luisita 1 leaders of the hacienda farmers and Ang Bayan is published in Pilipino, farmworkers questioned the voting Bisaya, Iloko, Hiligaynon, Waray and Hda. Luisita compromise deal is worthless 2 Fraud-ridden SDO 3 English editions. process that led to the agreement. Luisita struggle gains support 4 Bais claims that the Cojuangcos It is available for downloading at Peace talks fail to take off 5 the Philippine Revolution Web Central MILF assails stumbling blocks to talks 5 utilized barangay officials as well located at: Victorious NPA offensives as turncoats and farmer leaders on www.philippinerevolution.net NPA seizes 10 firearms 6 the landlord clan’s payroll to herd Ang Bayan welcomes contributions Kakasa ka ba? 7 in the form of articles and news. Fascist state on a rampage the farmers from their homes. The Readers are likewise enjoined to send Inhumane treatment of Morong 43 mom, child 8 farmers were promised an initial in their comments and suggestions for Policy of torture 8 payment of `20 million and `130 ACT raps 2 years added to basic education 11 the betterment of our publication. You million more once the Supreme can reach us by email at: News 10 [email protected] Court approves the “agreement.” But most of the farmers received Ang Bayan is published fortnightly by the Central Committee measly amounts and now regret of the Communist Party of the Philippines their vote for the SDO. 2 ANG BAYAN August 21, 2010 The agreement was railroaded to preempt the use, giving the Cojuangcos billions of pesos in reve- scheduled Supreme Court hearing of the HLI petition nues. The biggest among these was the sale of the to nullify the 2005 directive of the Presidential Agra- right of way covering 83 hectares for the use of the rian Reform Council (PARC) and the Department of Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEx) at `1 million Agrarian Reform (DAR) which cancelled the SDO and per hectare which Benigno Aquino III personally ordered the distribution of 4,915 hectares of hacienda pushed for when he was still senator. land. In the first hearing on August 18, HLI lawyers Tadeco, Central Azucarera de Tarlac, HLI and Jose had a hard time answering the many questions asked Cojuangco & Sons, Inc. chief operating officer Fernan- by the justices about irregularities surrounding the do Cojuangco has also announced the planned conver- implementation of the SDO. sion of the remaining agricultural lands of the hacien- Meanwhile, a large portion of the land that should da. They are even planning to shift most of the ha- be distributed to the farmers have either been con- cienda’s sugar plantation to bio-ethanol production. verted, sold or used for commercial and semi-industri- The rest will be shifted to the production of export al projects. As early as the 1990s, the HLI had already crops. secured approval for the conversion of some 3,800 It is clear that the clan does not intend to give up hectares of agricultural land to “commercial, industri- the hacienda and distribute it to the farmers. If the al and residential use.” Some 2,000 hectares have Cojuangcos get their way, the thousands of hacienda been converted, sold or leased for non-agricultural tillers will be ejected from the estate and completely five hectares. Yet the Cojuancos The fraud-ridden SDO continued to own 1,500 hectares. Most of this covers the residential he Cojuangcos exhausted every possible trick in the implementa- areas of the farmers and farmwork- tion of the Stock Distribution Option (SDO) to retain their monop- ers and “land development” such T oly over Hacienda Luisita. as roads. Only 4,915 hectares out The Cojuangcos themselves in- lac Development Corporation (Ta- of the total 6,500 hectares was serted the SDO scheme into Pres. deco) over the wealth of the land. supposed to be distributed to the Corazon Cojuangco-Aquino’s Execu- The land that was slated for distri- 6,300 farmers then working in the tive Order 229 even before the bution to the peasants was deemed hacienda.