Caravan to Hacienda Luisita marks 5th year of massacre

Amid the national jubilation over the latest win of Manny Pacquiao, cause oriented groups and farmers today retained an air of sadness as they commemorated the 5th anniversary of the Hacienda Luisita Massacre.

A 100-vehicle caravan to Luisita will kick-off today from the Quezon Memorial Circle. The activity is also part of an international day of protest to against trade union repression.

This year’s commemoration of the Hacienda Luisita Massacre comes just a few months before a presidential polls that have seen candidates from landowning families fight for the top position in the country.

“It has been five years and still no justice for the victims. The human rights case is still pending before the Office of the Ombudsman. There is still no justice for the numerous victims of extrajudicial killings of participants and supporters of the strike. There is still no accountability for the carnage of November 16,” said Bayan secretary general Renato M. Reyes, Jr.

“The Arroyo regime, through the Department of Labor under then Patricia Sto. Tomas, and the Armed Forces of the Philippines and Philippine National Police, together with the Luisita management, remain responsible for the tragic events of November 16. We cannot and must not forget their continuing liability,” he added.

The Presidential Agrarian Reform Council has revoked the Stock Distribution Option of the Luisita management. The SDO is the basis for the continued control by the Cojuangco-Aquino family over the large sugar estate. But instead of distributing lands, the management filed a petition for certiorari before the Supreme Court. The case remains pending but is said to be up for resolution.

“Luisita is the symbol of the failure of government, from the Aquino regime to the present, to resolve the agrarian issue that is festering throughout the country. Luisita is just one of the many estates still under big landlord control and where feudal exploitation remains,” Reyes said.

“The farmers’ demands are clear. Scrap the SDO and distribute the lands to the Luisita farmers and bring to justice the perpetrators and masterminds of the killings,” he added.