TARLAC CITY, Tarlac -- About 2,000 workers belonging to the United Luisita Workers’ Union [ULWU] and the Central Azucarera de Tarlac Labor Union (CATLU), wielding farm tools, placards and streamers assembled at the picket line in Gate 1 of the sugar mill last June 21 and marched to Barangay [village] Balete where they cleared a patch of land amidst loud chanting of slogans.

LUISITA WATCH

Stopping hunger. "We will not allow ourselves to die of hunger" - Rene Galang, leader of striking Hacienda Luisita workers, 21 June 2005.

“Lupa ng asyenda, bungkalin, pagyamanin!” [Cultivate and make productive the hacienda land], the workers shouted as they descended from the main road leading to the sugar mill into a bare expanse of land in the village. Using long knives, scythes and a single carabao, they removed dead sugar cane stumps and plowed a small stretch of soil. A mass was earlier held to ask for divine guidance and to bless their farm tools.

“This is a symbolic occasion. We are telling the world that we will not allow ourselves to die of hunger. We will till and make the land productive,” Rene Galang, president of the 5,000 strong farm workers’ union in the 6,000-ha. sugar plantation controlled by the family of former president Corazon Cojuangco Aquino.

The country’s bloodiest and most controversial labor dispute in the biggest sugar plantation in Luzon is now on its eighth month. The striking workers, saying they are hungry and out of work, have decided to till the land which has become idle because of the strike.

Galang said that the workers are “only exercising their right to till and not claiming actual and legal ownership of the land” and will do so “to stave-off hunger” during the current rainy season.

“It is not the fault of the unions that the strike became long-drawn. During the protracted negotiations which lasted until March 1, 2005, the unions have drastically reduced their economic demands in the hope of decisively resolving the strike. Management, however, refused the reinstatement of the illegally dismissed workers,” Galang said.

“As the strike wore on, the workers and their families experienced extreme economic hardships, including lack of food and hunger, thus the decision to make portions of the idle land productive," Galang explained.

CATLU president Ricardo Ramos said the mill workers will join the farm workers in making the land productive to “survive the harsh conditions” that the strike has dealt on the people of the hacienda.

“We want the strike to be resolved and we welcome any move of management to go back to the negotiating table. Meanwhile, our members will participate in the cultivation and reap the benefits for their families,” Ramos said.

LUISITA WATCH

Political statement. The carabao as a tool, agricultural and otherwise. 21 June 2005

Fertile land

Galang said that even before the strike, the people of the hacienda have cultivated small backyard vegetable gardens which helped them augment their food source, but management restrictions prevented them from enlarging their small plots.

Virgilio Pascua, 45, ULWU member and stock holder of the Hacienda Luisita Inc. [HLI] said the land is “very fertile” and they are now waiting to harvest vegetables and rice they planted in May. Pascua, along with three other workers and their families, cultivated a one-hectare plot in barangay Mapalacsiao.

Reynaldo Simon, 56, also a Mapalacsiao resident and a CATLU member said their group used run-off water from a treasure hunting operation in their village to irrigate the field at the height of this year’s dry season.

Aside from rice, the group planted eggplant, sweet potato, bitter gourd [ampalaya], squash, beans and other vegetables. They are already enjoying early vegetable harvests for home consumption, Simon said.

In Barangay Pasajes, Concepcion town, some 15 hectares in a low-lying land is presently being readied for rice cultivation while another 15 hectares is also being readied or has already been planted to vegetables.

In barangays Asturias and Texas some five hectares have been made productive and vegetable harvests are being enjoyed by the people. In the rest of the ten barangays comprising the hacienda, there is a proliferation of small vegetable plots being cultivated by the people, according to Felix Nacpil Jr, ULWU member and active supporter of the strike.

Potential investors

Cojuangco scion and Tarlac 2nd district representative Benigno Aquino III have meanwhile confirmed that the Cojuangco-Aquino family have lost interest in sugar production and are looking for potential investors in the hacienda.

In an interview with congress reporters, Aquino said there are a lot of on-going negotiations with investors including San Miguel Corporation, the giant food and beverage firm owned by Eduardo Cojuangco Jr. He said prospective investors include SMC subsidiaries engaged in cassava, corn and livestock production.

LUISITA WATCH

Fertile land. Cultivating and making the idled Luisita lands productive as an extension of the strike.

Asked if the family is planning to leave the hacienda, Aquino replied “Definitely so. Sa tubo... kahirap mangumbinsi ng mga kamag-anak na ituloy natin ito. [On sugar [production]… it’s difficult to convince relatives to continue.”]

Aquino said the family is willing to allow the workers to cultivate the land if a Memorandum of Agreement will be signed to “protect the company.”

Aquino also said the government has paid for the expropriation of some 50 has. of land inside the hacienda to be used in the construction of the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway [SCTEP]. He explained that the expressway is crucial in their effort to attract investors.

In an interview Archangel Vedana, leader of survey team for the SCTEP in the hacienda said the survey phase of the project will end in June. He said the modern road project will be 60 meters wide and will occupy some 66 meters from barangay Tinang in Concepcion to barangay Amucao in Tarlac City.

He confirmed reports that the village council in Pasajes, the northernmost village of the hacienda where the SCTEP will pass has prevented initial construction work in the village because of disagreement over right-of-way payments.

Both ULWU and CATLU have opposed the project saying it is part of the design of the Cojuangco to dispossess and drive away the workers and their families from the hacienda.

The unions are among the strongest voices in the growing chorus calling for the ouster of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

“Since the beginning of the strike, the Arroyo government have openly sided and coddled the Cojuangco family. The government ordered the soldiers and police to violently disperse the workers and is responsible for the infamous Hacienda Luisita Massacre.” Galang said.

“If the Arroyo government is removed from power, there is a chance that the military will withdraw from the hacienda. The biggest ally and defender of the Cojuangco family will be gone and the voice of the people of the hacienda will have a better chance of being heard, Galang said.