The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) has set June 10 as the date for initial land distribution in Hacienda Luisita but the parties to the dispute, including DAR, appear to be getting deeply embroiled in a tug-of-war.
Category: Agrarian Reform
Death Squads, the CIA and Political Killings in Central Luzon
BY ABNER BOLOS Gitnang Luzon News Service Posted by Bulatlat Stanley Karnow, in his book In Our Image, said the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) of the U.S. government brought the concept of death squads to the Philippines, specifically in Central Luzon, in the early 1950s through known CIA operatives Gen. Edward Lansdale and Charles Bohannan.…
Hacienda Luisita Farmers Demand Full Land Distribution
Farm workers of Hacienda Luisita are challenging President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to prove that she is not merely using the Hacienda Luisita issue to spite former Pres. Corazon Cojuangco-Aquino, heir to the Luisita estate and one of the president’s main political opponents. BY DABET CASTAÑEDA Bulatlat.com Farm workers of Hacienda Luisita, the 6,419-hectare sugar estate owned…
Gov’t to Stop Illegal Quarry Operations in Luisita
BY Abner Bolos GLNS/ Bulatlat.com Posted 6:39 p.m., Apr. 27, 2006 City of San Fernando—After almost a year of protest, workers in Hacienda Luisita have succeeded in pushing the government to declare as illegal quarrying operations for the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway Project [SCTEP] inside the hacienda. Officials of the Department of Agrarian Reform [DAR], Department of…
Tirso Cruz: 14th Luisita Martyr
BY ABNER BOLOS Gitnang Luson News Service Posted by Bulatlat.com As the 14th martyr of the Hacienda Luisita struggle was buried, the issues connected to his death continue to hound the strife-torn hacienda. Concepcion, Tarlac – The mourners marched under the scorching sun passing lush corn and vegetable plots and the giant expressway project that…
Abducted Youth Leader under NOLCOM Custody
BY ABNER BOLOS Gitnang Luson News Service Posted 10:00 p.m., Apr. 9, 2006 TARLAC CITY — Ronald Intal, the youth leader in Hacienda Luisita who was abducted allegedly by government troops and has been missing since April 3 may be alive and in the custody of the Northern Luzon Command (NOLCOM). Gonzalo Intal, 79, father…
Despite gov’t decision favoring land distribution Hacienda Luisita Workers Still Face Uphill Battle
BY ABNER BOLOS Bulatlat.com The strike may have been lifted last December 8, 2005, but the struggle of the farm workers of Hacienda Luisita, Inc. (HLI) is far from over. Among the unresolved issues are coverage of land distribution and number of agrarian reform beneficiaries. Farm workers in Hacienda Luisita asked the Department of Agrarian…
On the 19th year of the Mendiola Massacre Peasants’ Blood Compact Signals 100 Days of Protest vs GMA, Chacha
On January 22, 1987 at the historic Mendiola Bridge, soldiers drew first blood as they opened fire on demonstrators calling on the government to implement genuine agrarian reform. Since this resulted in 13 demonstrators being killed, this came to be known as the Mendiola Massacre which has been commemorated ever since. In remembering what happened…
Luisita Farm Brigades Till Land as They Await Distribution
As lawyers haggle over the legality of the revocation of the stock distribution option in Hacienda Luisita, the farm workers continue to reap benefits from tilling the land and earn money from the on-going sugar cane harvest. By Abner Bolos Bulatlat.com As lawyers haggle over the legality of the revocation of the stock distribution option…
Peasants Suffer in 2005, Brace for Worst in 2006
Various controversies plagued the agricultural sector in 2005 and peasants do not see an end in the immediate future. In fact, they are bracing for the worst in 2006. BY AUBREY SC MAKILAN Bulatlat.com Past surveys showed hardship among the poor in 2004 and signs of desperation in 2005. No less than President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo,…
2005 People of the Year
We in Bulatlat have chosen to welcome the New Year by looking back at those personalities who may be described, as far as we are concerned, as 2005 People of the Year. They are those who provided shining examples of courage or brilliance – or both – at a time that desperately calls for these.…