Republic of the Philippines HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Quezon City FIFTEENTH CONGRESS First Regular Session HOUSE RESOLUTION No.

218

Introduced by Reps. TEDDY A. CASIO and NERI JAVIER COLMENARES

RESOLUTION EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF THE HOUSE TO CONDEMN THE AUGUST 6, 2010 HACIENDA LUISITA INCORPORATED (HLI) COMPROMISE AGREEMENT AS A SHAM DEAL THAT NEGATES THE SPIRIT OF AGRARIAN REFORM AND SOCIAL JUSTICE BY EVADING LAND DISTRIBUTION AND ALLOWING THE COJUANGCO FAMILY CONTINUED CONTROL AND OWNERSHIP OF THE ESTATE, BLATANTLY SEEKS TO PRE-EMPT THE SUPREME COURTS RULING ON THE PETITION FOR THE REVOCATION OF THE STOCK DISTRIBUTION OPTION SCHEME AND UNDERSCORES ANOTHER HISTORICAL INJUSTICE TO THE HLI FARMERS WHO HAVE TOILED IN ABJECT POVERTY AND MISERY FOR HALF A CENTURY WHEREAS, last August 6, 2010 the management of Hacienda Luisita Incorporated (HLI) forged a so-called compromise agreement that purportedly seeks to give their farmers the option to own around 1,400 hectares of land comprising a third of the vast 6,500-hectare plantation in Tarlac or retain their shares in the company via the onerous Stock Distribution Option (SDO) scheme forged in 1989. The agreement likewise includes a P150 million financial assistance package for the 12,000 HLI farmer-beneficiaries; WHEREAS, the agreement has been strongly assailed by farmers groups in HLI and various sectors, including the Church, as a maneuver by its owners to evade land distribution and pre-empt the Supreme Courts ruling on the petition for revocation of the SDO scheme. The HLI sugar estate is owned by the family of President Benigno Cojuangco Aquino III. Pres. Aquino has regarded the issue as a mere intra-corporate dispute and that he has divested his shares in HLI in compliance with law after he became president; WHEREAS, the agreement was signed between the management of HLI, represented by its corporate secretary Eufrocino de la Merced Jr., and a certain Noel Mallari, who claims to be the president of Alyansa ng mga Manggagawang Bukid ng Hacienda Luisita (Ambala); Eldifonso Pingol, who claims to be the vice president of the United Luisita Workers Union (ULWU); and Julio Suniga and Windsor Andaya supposedly of the HLI Supervisory Group.

However, the officers and members of ULWU and Ambala attest that these supposed former leaders have misrepresented them and have long been working for the HLI management. In fact, the acting president of ULWU is Lito Bais and the president of Ambala is Felix Nakpil; WHEREAS, the SDO was implemented by the Cojuangcos as one of the non-land transfer schemes indicated in the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law (CARL). The SDO proferred to make the farmers stockholders of the HLI but only consigned them to a life of debt dependence and poverty since the farm workers had to work for their shares based on their mandays (number of hours a farm worker renders annually). Simply put, their so-called shares are earned and paid by the labor of the farm workers; WHEREAS, the compromise agreement provides for two options for farm workers: to continue with the SDO or have the lands distributed to them. Should they opt for the latter, they will have to share equallyfrom only 1,499 hectares of the original 4,012 hectares devoted to agriculture. The HLI management also has the right to first refusal should farmerbeneficiaries decide to liquidate, lease or transfer their assets; WHEREAS, according to the Sento para sa Tunay na Repormang Agraryo (SENTRA), HLI has no right to retain ownership of the land because it is covered by the existing agrarian reform program that provides that agricultural lands in excess of five hectares shall be distributed to the farmers. The compromise agreement renders impossible the break-up and distribution of the Luisita landholdings; WHEREAS, the P 150 million financial package entailed is a pittance compared to what the farmers rightfully deserve and is meant to lure and deceive them into signing the compromise agreement. The farm workers are supposedly co-owners of HLI for 33,296% of the total shares of stocks. In 1989, the outstanding capital stock is at 400,000 at 1 peso per share. Granting that the 12,000 farmer workers have equal shares, they will be receiving a measly P 12,500.00 only. Considering that their shares are computed based on mandays, the actual amount would be much lower. Reports from farmers cite that those who have signed the compromise have received from P45.00 to P 8,000.00 only; WHEREAS, the compromise agreement likewise provides that farm workers will waive and agree to withdraw any and all claims, including those arising from employer-employee relationship, complaints, petitions filed, or to be filed, with the DAR [Department of Agrarian Reform], PARC [Presidential Agrarian Reform Council], administrative, quasi-judicial and/or judicial bodies, or any other matter arising from or incidental to the MOA [memorandum of agreement], or any dispute between HLI and the farm workers, and hereby release and hold harmless each other from any and all other liabilities or claims, of any form and kind, which one may have against the other and its officers, or which may arise now or in the future between HLI and the farm workers, or as a result of or incidental to the implementation of the MOA. The said provision strips the workers of their fundamental right to seek redress for grievances and grants immunity to the owners from any criminal, illegal and unjust acts of the HLI management; WHEREAS, the compromise agreement is the third in a series of maneuverings of the HLI management to evade agrarian reform. The first was in 1986 when the Cory Aquino

administration withdrew the case filed by the government compelling the Cojuangco family to distribute the land to the farm workers as stated in the conditions of a loan the Cojuangcos obtained from the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) and the Central Bank to purchase the sugar mill and the Hacienda Luisita. The second was in 1989 through the SDO scheme which have made the farmers lives more miserable and which farmers have strongly rejected leading to the 2004 HLI massacre; WHEREAS, the Supreme Court has set oral arguments on the petition for the revocation of the SDO scheme after the Presidential Agrarian Reform Council (PARC) itself issued a resolution to revoke the SDO in 2009. The HLI management has submitted the compromise agreement to the SC in a brazen bid to throw a monkey wrench and preempt the High Tribunals actions; WHEREAS, the spirit of agrarian reform is social justice, and its manifest expression the actual distribution of lands to the tillers devoid of any schemes that tie them to a lifetime of servitude and destitution. The folly of the SDO scheme is seen in the abject conditions of the HLI farmers whose lives have not improved 16 years later. The Aquino government cannot keep a distance on the issue and abscond from its duty of giving justice to the farmers; NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT the House of Representatives express its sense to condemn the August 6, 2010 Hacienda Luisita Incorporated (HLI) compromise agreement as a sham deal that negates the spirit of agrarian reform and social justice by evading land distribution and allowing the Cojuangco family continued control and ownership of the estate, blatantly seeks to pre-empt the Supreme Courts ruling on the petition for the revocation of the Stock Distribution Option scheme and underscores another historical injustice to the HLI farmers who have toiled in abject poverty and misery for half a century. Adopted,

TEDDY A. CASIO Bayan Muna Party-list

NERI JAVIER COLMENARES Bayan Muna Party-list