Based on data from the Unyon ng mga Manggagawa sa Agrikultura (UMA or Union of Workers in Agriculture), the “cultivation campaign” has benefited some 1,676 people, or 838 families, in 10 of the 11 villages surrounding Hacienda Luisita: Asturias, Balete, Bantog, Cutcut, Mapalacsiao, Motrico, Pando, Parang, and Texas.
Another Fight
But not all is well in Hacienda Luisita. The farm workers-turned-farmers there are bracing for another fight as they face an order for them to stop tilling the land.
On Dec. 18, 2008, the erstwhile farm workers received a memorandum signed by Hacienda Luisita estate manager Herman Gregorio Jr., giving them until Oct. 30 this year to leave the land. The memorandum, Gregorio wrote to the farmers, “will serve as Formal Notice for you to discontinue and desist from using, cultivating, planting or possessing said parcel/s of land on or before October 30, 2009.”
The memorandum, Gregorio wrote, was issued “preserve the tone of peace, harmony and unity in (Hacienda Luisita).”
“While we admit that we have already accomplished this to a certain degree, we (are) still exploring other possible ways and means to pave the way for an ultimate and grand solution to this (agrarian dispute),” Gregorio wrote.
Some 500 families in the hacienda received Gregorio’s memorandum, according to Joseph Canlas, chairman of the Alyansa ng mga Magbubukid sa Gitnang Luzon (AMGL or Peasants’ Alliance in Central Luzon). With the memorandum from Gregorio, they now run the risk of losing these gains.
The farmers of Hacienda Luisita, who saw relatives and friends get either killed or maimed in what was a bitter fight for justice, are not taking this sitting down. They have vowed to fight and expand their ranks, even as the deadline that was initially handed down by Gregorio had expired.
“We are not fools who will allow this to happen,” Bais said. “We are now making a secure living from this land, and we will fight for this,” he added. (Bulatlat.com)
Thanks for the update from Hacienda Luisita. Even though there is still no legal resolution, it’s good to hear that the farmers are at least feeding themselves from their own rice that they grew on the estate. Hopefully the memorandum you described will not lead to another disastrous confrontation.