This story
was taken from Bulatlat, the Philippines's alternative weekly
newsmagazine (www.bulatlat.com, www.bulatlat.net, www.bulatlat.org).
Vol. V, No. 40, November
13-19, 2005
Luisita
Strikers Nabbed, Detained
They were taken to a house being rented by the
soldiers in Barangay Balete where they were reportedly beaten up again while
being interrogated for about three hours. It was only at around 5 a.m. when they
were transferred to the police station in Tarlac City. Twenty-one year old
Rachelle Bayudan’s cellular phone was confiscated by the soldiers.
The strikers identified the leaders of the
arresting team as TSgt. Julius Paman, Sgt. Dennis Mendoza and a certain Michael
Salvador who the strikers said is also a soldier.
The two women arrested were Bayudan and Malou
Ricardo, 29, both from Brgy. Balete. The minor was Nino Oles, son of Rico Oles,
39 of Brgy. Bantog. The others were: Cunanan, 37; Eduardo Martinez, 25;
Arnel Padel, all of Brgy. Balete; Renato Mendoza, 35, Brgy. Cut-cut II; Eduardo
Capulong, 27, Brgy. Mapalacsiao; Lito dela Cruz, 35. Brgy. Asturias; and Resty
Puzon, 20, Brgy. Motrico.
All barangays (villages) are among the 11
villages that comprise the 6,443-hectare Hacienda Luisita, Luzon's largest sugar
estate owned and operated by the family of former President Corazon
Cojuangco-Aquino of the powerful Cojuangco clan in Tarlac.
ULWU president Rene Galang said in an interview
with Bulatlat that it was another form of harassment against their union,
which has successfully staged a one-year old strike resulting in the work
stoppage of the sugar estate.
On Nov. 6 last year, ULWU, the plantation
workers' union, and CATLU, the mill workers' union, staged a simultaneous strike
citing unfair labor practices and a deadlock in the negotiations for a
Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) as basis.
Criminalization
“This is another vicious attack on the legitimate
struggle of the workers of Hacienda Luisita. Instead of pursuing negotiations
that the unions have consistently asked for, they resort to another senseless
act of violence,” Galang said.
“They have charged three of our members with
trumped-up criminal cases. In so doing they are criminalizing an inherent right
of the people to act and seek redress for their grievances,” Galang added.
Galang was referring to the charges filed against
Cunanan, Ricardo and Martinez who were charged for allegedly violating RA 8294
(Illegal Possession of Firearms) and RA 3553 (Anti-Deadly Arrow Law). The
strikers deny they were in possession of any deadly weapon when arrested.
Cunanan and Ricardo are now detained at the
Tarlac City Police Station. The two have been under surveillance by the military
since the strike started last year. They were listed as members of the New
People's Army (NPA) in the book "Trinity of War" published by the Northern Luzon
Command (NOLCOM) of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and in a slide
presentation of the AFP titled "Knowing the Enemy."
The other nine strikers who were nabbed together
with the two have been released to the custody of Balete Brgy. Capt. Rodel
Galang.
Charges revived
As the warrantless arrest of eleven strikers took
place, Galang and 22 others received their subpoena and are scheduled for
arraignment on Thursday, Nov 17. Two of those charged, Isidro Batan and Albert
Gonzales, are already dead.
All of those charged are officers and members of
ULWU. They have been charged with "alarm and scandal" for staging a protest
march inside the hacienda in mid-summer of 2003. The case is now docketed at the
Municipal Trial Court in Tarlac under Criminal Case No. 1237-05.
Galang said the revival of their case "is part of
the seemingly unending scheme of the Cojuangco family to harass the union. We
were surprised that a case that we assumed have been dismissed is being revived
at this time, especially just after the murder of [CATLU president Ricardo
Ramos].
"In their futile attempt to end the strike on
their terms, they are doing everything to make things hard for us," Galang said.
He said the Cojuangcos are desperate to operate
the mill before the year ends. Sugar milling season in the country is from
October to April of the next year.
During initial negotiations with ULWU last Nov.
10, CAT vice president for operations Ernesto Teopaco said that even with the
strike, CAT is expecting to harvest at least 600,000 tons of sugarcane compared
to the 900,000 to one million tons of sugarcane harvested during the previous
years.
Meanwhile, during a visit to his
troops in Tarlac on Nov. 11, Major General Jovito Palparan, commanding general
of the 7th Infantry Division of the Philippine Army, said, “After
almost eight months of focused and dedicated efforts, the troops were able to
facilitate the surrender of 176 sympathizers and supporters of the CPP/NPA at
the environs of Hacienda Luisita, most of them are now undergoing the usual
cross-examination and re-orientation processes. Job well done!” Bulatlat © 2005 Bulatlat
■
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Union condemns
harassment
BY ABNER BOLOS
Bulatlat
At about 2 a.m. of Nov. 14, 10 strikers and a 15-year old
striker's son were sleeping near the picket line along the main road in front of
Barangay (village) Balete, Tarlac City when about 20 soldiers suddenly and
without warning came and searched them. The workers, all members of the United
Luisita Workers Union (ULWU), were punched, kicked and hit with armalite rifles.
Arnold Cunanan, one of the workers, was repeatedly hit with a steel tube at the
legs and lower part of his body. The 11, which included two women and a minor,
were then forced to board the shuttle jeep of the Central Azucarrera de Tarlac
Labor Union (CATLU).