BCDA ordered to stop roadwork in Luisita
THE Department of Agrarian Reform has directed the Bases Conversion Development Authority (BCDA) to temporarily stop the construction of an expressway project passing through the 5,000-hectare Hacienda Luisita in Tarlac.
In a press briefing, Romeo Zarate, Central Azucarera de Tarlac Labor Union (Catlu) board of director, said the lawyer Ibra Omar of the Bureau of Agrarian Legal Assistance sent a letter to BCDA after granting the petition of hacienda farmworkers.
“We wanted to stop the project because there’s still a pending case with the Presidential Agrarian Reform Council [PARC] on the stock-distribution option [SDO], that could pave the way for land distribution to farmers,” he explained.
Zarate said, “The BCDA has been ignoring the order. It continues doing construction work during evenings with the assistance of the 48th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army to block the farmworkers’ from opposing the roadwork.”
Catlu and the United Luisita Workers’ Union (ULWU) suspect the deployment of the military in the hacienda has something to do with the expressway project.
The group wants the military to pull out, especially the 7th Infantry Division of Major Gen. Jovito Palparan.
The farmers’ strike has ended after the two labor unions and the Hacienda Luisita Inc. (HLI) signed new labor agreements.
Zarate said the HLI received P100 million from BCDA in payment of the right-of-way needed for the expressway project. “But only 3 percent of that amount was given to farmworkers who are part-owners of the hacienda if the SDO is to be believed,” he continued.
“It should be 33 percent. That is the stake of the farmworkers in the company.
--Ronnnie E. Calumpita - Manila times
In a press briefing, Romeo Zarate, Central Azucarera de Tarlac Labor Union (Catlu) board of director, said the lawyer Ibra Omar of the Bureau of Agrarian Legal Assistance sent a letter to BCDA after granting the petition of hacienda farmworkers.
“We wanted to stop the project because there’s still a pending case with the Presidential Agrarian Reform Council [PARC] on the stock-distribution option [SDO], that could pave the way for land distribution to farmers,” he explained.
Zarate said, “The BCDA has been ignoring the order. It continues doing construction work during evenings with the assistance of the 48th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army to block the farmworkers’ from opposing the roadwork.”
Catlu and the United Luisita Workers’ Union (ULWU) suspect the deployment of the military in the hacienda has something to do with the expressway project.
The group wants the military to pull out, especially the 7th Infantry Division of Major Gen. Jovito Palparan.
The farmers’ strike has ended after the two labor unions and the Hacienda Luisita Inc. (HLI) signed new labor agreements.
Zarate said the HLI received P100 million from BCDA in payment of the right-of-way needed for the expressway project. “But only 3 percent of that amount was given to farmworkers who are part-owners of the hacienda if the SDO is to be believed,” he continued.
“It should be 33 percent. That is the stake of the farmworkers in the company.
--Ronnnie E. Calumpita - Manila times
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