HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH
Tirso Cruz:
14th Luisita Martyr
As the 14th
martyr of the Hacienda Luisita struggle was buried, the issues connected
to his death continue to hound the strife-torn hacienda.
BY ABNER BOLOS
Gitnang Luson News Service
Posted by Bulatlat
Concepcion, Tarlac -
The mourners marched under the
scorching sun passing lush corn and vegetable plots and the giant
expressway project that has cut a wide swath across the vast sugar estate.
BUNGKALAN
LEADER. Hacienda Luisita workers clamor for justice for colleague
Tirso Cruz as they pay their last respects to the slain union leader
GLNS Photo |
Tirso Cruz, 33, officer of the United
Luisita Workers’ Union (ULWU), was buried on March 28 as the issues
connected to his death continue to hound the strife-torn hacienda.
He is regarded as the 14th martyr of the Hacienda Luisita struggle.
Cruz was one of the key leaders of the 5,000-strong plantation
workers’ union, which along with the sugar mill workers union,
launched a strike in November 2004. The strike caused major
changes in the relations between the workers and the owners of the
6,000-hectare sugar plantation. |
Cruz survived the
November 16 Luisita massacre where seven strikers were killed at the
picket line. The killing of leaders and supporters of the strike
continued, ironically, in the presence of. hundreds of soldiers in
detachments in the 10 villages of the hacienda.
The strike ended in December 2005. The stock distribution plan under the
Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program of the government was revoked paving
the way for the transfer of land ownership from the Cojuangco family to
the farm workers.
In the course of the strike, the farm workers defied a management edict
prohibiting workers to use the land and dared to cultivate parcels for
subsistence. They planted vegetables, rice and corn on the land that used
to be devoted solely to sugar cane.
The construction of the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway Project (SCTEP), a
flagship project of the Arroyo administration also began in spite of
opposition by the farm workers who say that it is part of the scheme to
deny them of their claim to the land.
Killed by government agents
Cruz led the
cultivation (known here as “bungkalan”) and protests against the
expressway project. He was also very vocal in protesting the presence of
soldiers and calling for their withdrawal.
Federico Cruz, 60, father of the slain union leader said that only
government agents could have killed his son.
He testified that at 12:30 am on
March 17, he was walking home along with Tirso and one of his sons in
their village in Pando, Concepcion when assassins on board a motorcycle
came from behind and repeatedly shot Tirso.
“We passed the motorcycle on the way. Then we heard it moving and coming
from behind us. We parted ways as we walked to give way to the motorcycle.
Suddenly there was a burst of gunfire and Tirso fell face down on the
ground,” the elder Cruz recounted.
He said an assassin poked his rifle at Tirso’s brother and went on to
shoot the victim before they sped away, Cruz said.
“The motorcycle passed by the soldiers’ detachment which was only about
100 meters from where my son was killed. Residents went to the detachment
to ask for help but were ignored. They even put the lights out in the
detachment instead of helping us,” Cruz said. GLNS / Posted by Bulatlat
BACK TO
TOP ■
PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION ■
COMMENT
© 2006 Bulatlat
■
Alipato Publications
Permission is granted to reprint or redistribute this article, provided
its author/s and Bulatlat are properly credited and notified.
