Gate 1 of the Central Azucarera de Tarlac, where seven lay dead after the Nov. 16 carnage, remains as the battleground between the Cojuangcos and the striking sugar mill and farm workers. This is where hundreds of battle-scarred strikers have held their ground since Nov. 6 and even non-striking workers say unless this gate is…
Category: Hacienda Luisita
KAPITBISIG: A Campaign for Justice to the Victims of the Hacienda Luisita Massacre
UNITY STATEMENT We denounce the bloody dispersal of the strike at the Hacienda Luisita (HL) last November 16, 2004 by elements of the AFP, the PNP and HL security guards that left seven dead, scores wounded and more than a hundred illegally arrested from the ranks of the mill workers and farm laborers. We deplore…
The Hazards of Toiling for the Cojuangcos
A lost foot, a lost job and a threat to lose his home. This tale of a sugar mill worker at the Central Azucarera de Tarlac brings to fore the miserable conditions that bug the work force of Luzon’s largest sugar refinery. BY DABET CASTAÑEDA Bulatlat.com It was 30 minutes past midnight on Feb. 7,…
Battleground Gate 1 78 days – and still on strike
Gate 1 of the Central Azucarera de Tarlac, where seven lay dead after the Nov. 16 carnage, remains as the battleground between the Cojuangcos and the striking sugar mill and farm workers. This is where hundreds of battle-scarred strikers have held their ground since Nov. 6 and even non-striking workers say unless this gate is…
‘Cojuangcos Can’t Scare Us’ – Union Leaders Church group asks GMA to back workers’ demands
Union workers of Hacienda Luisita have accused the Cojuangco family– owners of the plantation and sugar mill in Tarlac – and armed authorities as being behind the series of physical harassment against strikers. BY DABET CASTAÑEDA Bulatlat.com Union workers of Hacienda Luisita have accused the Cojuangco family– owners of the plantation and sugar mill in…
Luisita Survivors: Ombudsman’s Biggest Group of Complainants
The Office of the Ombudsman has now the biggest number of complainants since it was formed during the last years of martial law: 52 farmers, survivors and relatives of seven victims in the Nov. 16 Hacienda Luisita massacre. BY DABET CASTAÑEDA Bulatlat.com The Office of the Ombudsman has now the biggest number of complainants since…
No Turning Back Workers Defy Sto. Tomas’ Order
After their strike was declared “illegal” by the labor department, mill workers at the Cojuangco-owned Hacienda Luisita face mass lay-off. The workers have vowed to defy the DoLE order and to maintain their two-month long strike. BY DABET CASTAÑEDA Bulatlat.com Still hurting from the gunshot wound he sustained when police and military forces tried to…
Hacienda Luisita: Poorly Paid Workers Lose Jobs — and Homes, Too
BULATLAT INVESTIGATIVE REPORT Farm workers of Hacienda Luisita dispute the claim by the Cojuangcos that SDO has been good for their thousands of farm workers. Farm workers say they have been losing their jobs, receiving pitiable pay and may lose their own homes, too. BY DABET CASTAÑDA Bulatlat.com (Second of two parts / Read the…
For Land and Wages: Half a Century of Peasant Struggle in Hacienda Luisita
BULATLAT INVESTIGATIVE REPORT The Versolas continue to support the strike, visiting the picket line to watch documentaries on the massacre, help in the kitchen chores or just exchange views with anyone. Mang Pering says that their forefathers’ struggle to finally own the land that is rightfully theirs rages on. BY DABET CASTAÑEDA Bulatlat.com (First of…
Living on the Edge: The Sacadas of Hacienda Luisita
After several minutes of searching in the shadows, we finally find them, with lights from their gas lamps flickering through sack-covered bunkhouses. They stay by the edge of the Cojuangcos’ sprawling sugar plantation in Tarlac, far from the estate’s factories and barrios.
Mayhem in Labor Chief’s Power: Workers Say ‘Assumption of Jurisdiction’ Is Anti-Labor
The labor secretary’s “assumption of jurisdiction” power is being used to ban all strikes and has caused bloodshed in the workers front. This is like reliving martial law, militant labor unions say.