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.
Category: Agrarian Reform
Massacre Shooters Go Berserk in Luisita, Claim 8th Victim
Shots shattered the evening calm as a peasant leader, Marcelino Beltran, went out of his house to greet some “visitors.” The visitors pumped bullets into his body and he died two hours later – the eighth to fall following the Nov. 16 massacre of seven farmers at Hacienda Luisita.
Hacienda Luisita dispersal: Shots Were Fired During Lull in Scuffle
From the testimony of a worker at the front lines of the Hacienda Luisita picket and the unedited version of a footage taken by an independent media practitioner, police started firing at the strikers during a lull in the fighting. The scenes from the unedited footage, shown Dec. 1 at a hearing of the Senate…
The Hacienda Luisita Massacre: How It Happened
The violence that marred the strike of plantation and milling workers of the Cojuangco-owned Hacienda Luisita on Nov. 16 was bound to happen and government authorities may have to account for it.
Hacienda Luisita Belongs to Cojuangco Tenants, Ex-DAR Exec Says
In a deal with government funders 46 years ago, Don Jose Cojuangco pledged to distribute the land now occupied by Hacienda Luisita to tenant farmers. A former director of the Department of Agrarian Reform says a court order binds the Cojuangcos to do so. By Dabet Castañeda Bulatlat.com The Cojuangco family, owners of the embattled…
The Hacienda Luisita Massacre, Landlordism and State Terrorism
The public outrage ignited by the Luisita Massacre should also keep an eye on other potential flashpoints that could lead to similar acts of state terrorism. There are several other plantations, large estates as well as development projects and mining exploration areas in many parts of the country that have been militarized. By Bobby Tuazon…
Hacienda Luisita Grinds to a Halt; Workers Vow to Continue Protest
It may be an uphill battle, but the 4,000 workers of Hacienda Luisita, Inc. decided to take matters into their own hands by declaring a strike last Nov. 6. Armed with a sense of history and social justice, their leaders vow to continue the protest and now they are demanding the land which should have…
Grains of Truth: Food Producers Suffer Hunger, Poverty
“Kawitang palakol” and “gawat” are terms that refer to times when food is scarce, usually the weeks before harvest season when the farmers have spent all their money on fertilizers and pesticides and harvest time is still far away. The considerable increases in the prices of farm inputs and terribly low price of palay ((unmilled…
Gloria, Resign!:Thousands Mark Peasant Day vs Landlessness, Poverty, Hunger
The age-old issues affecting the peasantry – landlessness, hunger and poverty – were expectedly the main issues at the rally in observance of Peasant Day last Oct. 21. The protest action, however, also became an occasion to air the growing demand for the resignation of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. By ALEXANDER MARTIN REMOLLINO Bulatlat.com “She assumed…
The Untold Story of Hacienda Luisita Workers
Holding a multi-colored bayong (plastic market bag), Mang Pering, a retired sugar farm worker, looked half-scared and half-exited. Inside his bayong was a panti (fish net made of nylon) and some dry clothes. He is on his way to the nearby river where he hopes to get some fish so his family would have something to eat for the day. But before he left, he said he only had one wish: “Sana hindi ako mahuli ng gwardya” (I hope the guard won’t catch me).
Remembering the Mendiola Massacre: ‘Amid the Assault, We Were Undaunted’
When gunfire raged and blood soaked Mendiola bridge on the afternoon of Jan. 22, 1987, killing at least 13 peasant protesters, Marianito “Itoy” Dimapilis thought he would never get out of that scene alive. By DENNIS ESPADA Bulatlat.com It was nearly dusk. And despite having two bullets lodged on his left foot, Marianito “Itoy” Dimapilis…