Aquino: I will redistribute Hacienda Luisita in 5 years

Filed Under: Inquirer Politics, Eleksyon 2010, Benigno Aquino III, Agrarian Reform

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o Aquino: I will redistribute Hacienda Luisita in 5 years
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MANILA, Philippines—Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III Tuesday promised to redistribute the 6,453-hectare Hacienda Luisita Inc. (HLI) within five years as prescribed by the new agrarian reform law.

In a press conference at his father’s ancestral home in Concepcion, Tarlac, where the Liberal Party (LP) standard-bearer formally launched his candidacy, Aquino said that the hacienda controlled by the Cojuangco family of his late mother President Corazon Aquino was virtually bankrupt.

The presidential candidate did not give details of the debts but said that this was the reason the Cojuangcos had been hesitant to dump the sprawling sugar plantation on the farmers with its obligations still unpaid.

“I have said several times before that I have already talked with my family and that what we are after is the welfare of our ‘kasamahan’ and our main problem is how to transfer the land without the debt.

“We could have made a voluntary offer to sell from day one if we were only after our own interest. We get paid, and we will be left with a huge sum in the bank, but our kasamahan are left in a not so perfect situation—10,000 (farmers) to divide 4,500 hectares of land that do not have equal productivity,” said Aquino.

His running mate, Sen. Manuel “Mar” Roxas II, himself a rich landowner, took the cudgels for him by stressing that that the farmers’ enemy was not Aquino but the banks.

“The land is mortgaged to the banks and they cannot just turn their bank and give up the land because it would all go to the banks,” Roxas said.

Aquino said that his cousins “who are running the hacienda” had already made the rounds to get the consent of 10,000 farmers on what scheme they wanted to effect the land transfer. He said this should also be approved by the corporation.

Aquino issued a press statement at the start of his national campaign promising to complete the distribution of over a million hectares of private lands during the five-year extension period of the new agrarian reform law.

He said that this would allow the government to pour more funds into agricultural extension services, irrigation, farm-to-market roads, to help farmer-beneficiaries.

P150-billion fund

Aquino noted that P150 billion allocated under CARPER (CARP Extension with Reforms) was approved last year (Aquino abstained during the voting) for the purchase of lands and he intended to use the funds to implement the land transfer in his own family’s Hacienda.

Agrarian reform was the centerpiece of a poverty alleviation program that Corazon Aquino had vowed to undertake when she campaigned for president in the snap election of 1986 against the dictator Ferdinand Marcos. A subsequent People Power revolution that year ousted Marcos.

In 1988, President Aquino promulgated a comprehensive agrarian reform program, but her hacienda was exempted when it opted to distribute shares of stocks instead to farmers.

However, the Department of Agrarian Reform said that after 17 years, the arrangement had not improved the lives of the farmers and ordered the distribution of the lands to them. At the Cojuangcos’ behest, the Supreme Court issued a temporary restraining order. The case remains pending.

Those lands that remain undistributed are the huge estates, like Hacienda Luisita, whose owners have resisted the program the past two decades. The Hacienda issue has become an albatross in the Aquino campaign and a big question mark on his ability to address poverty and the unequal distribution of wealth.

Aquino as rapper

In Capas later, Aquino shocked and entertained his audience by giving an impromptu performance of his political rap jingle on a makeshift stage at the public market.

He told the crowd that he wanted to disprove the Villar camp’s claims that he merely put on fast mode his song to make it sound like he was rapping.

In the evening, the group proceeded to Tarlac City for the unveiling of the 9-foot monument of Corazon Aquino.

During the press conference, Aquino and Roxas blasted Nacionalista Party presidential candidate Sen. Manny Villar for his purported secret ties to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

“I have been taught as a child that if I pushed for something that is wrong, I will be part of that evil,” Aquino said.

“Their alliance will eventually come out in the coming days. You can see from their actions and words that they do have a collaboration.”

Roxas mocked Villar’s “fake” image as seen from his constant dying of his white hair and alleged botox treatment for his wrinkles.

“This campaign will stand on character versus cash,” he said.

While Aquino and Roxas zeroed in on Villar in the kick-off rally at the Concepcion public market, Aquino claimed that Ms Arroyo remained as his main target in the elections and that Villar and anyone who would seek to continue her “crooked system” should not be allowed to be in power. “

Noynoy blasts Gibo

Aquino said this included his cousin, Lakas-Kampi-CMD presidential candidate Gilbert “Gibo” Teodoro, Ms Arroyo’s former defense secretary.

“I am older than him and in fairness, I don’t think we have ever hit each other below the belt. He claimed in his slogan that it was possible for the country to grow fast but he has to explain why start only now when they have been in power for 10 years?” Aquino said.

With Villar cutting down Aquino’s once formidable lead, the LP candidate said his campaign team would aim at delivering a more clear and focused message primarily through 300,000 card-carrying volunteers ready to defend and promote him.

Aquino said that Villar, whom he described as his “closest competitor,” would be his best ally in the campaign.

“My closest opponent mouthed what I said (about not raising taxes and managing the deficit) and he agreed that my position is correct. As he follows my platform more and more, my opponent will constantly change his message because he has not been studying what he is supposed to study,” Aquino said.

Ad spending

What Aquino will not do is match Villar’s spending which LP guest senatorial bet, Akbayan party-list Rep. Risa Hontiveros, estimated at between P6 billion and P15 billion, which was bigger than the entire state budget for state housing of P4.2 billion.

Villar is currently spending 10 times what Aquino was shelling out for his campaign ads. Even if his ad spending gets bigger with the start of the campaign, Aquino said Villar would still outspend him 2 to 1.

Aquino’s main fear was that the uninformed public would accept the image conveyed by the ads as reality.

He said his team’s goal was to make sure that the public would be apprised of the truth about his actions that conflict with his image, such as the C-5 double insertion issue where he caused the construction of a redundant and more expensive road project that primarily benefited his subdivisions.

Fans look for Kris

Aquino’s girlfriend, Valenzuela Councilor Shalani Soledad, was nowhere in sight. She was out campaigning for a congressional seat in Valenzuela. But she was hardly missed.

Aquino’s shrieking fans in Concepcion were looking for his popular sister Kris Aquino and her son Baby James.

“She is part of team creating materials (for the campaign) and she has plenty of obligations,” Aquino told reporters. “When she is here, they say I am using Kris. When she is not here, they ask where is Kris?” Aquino said, complaining about his dilemma.

Kris has been seen as a double-edged sword for Aquino—her popularity as attested to by the numerous companies that get her to endorse their products, has made the Aquino name even more popular; but her string of love affairs and tactless remarks have also made her a liability to Aquino.

Aquino said that Kris and her other sisters—Pinky Aquino-Abellada and Ballsy Aquino-Cruz—were his “surrogates” who would help cover all of the 80 provinces in less than 90 days.

“We will take turns because my schedule is also tight,” he said.

Another surprise was the presence of broadcast journalist Korina Sanchez who sat behind Roxas at Immaculate Conception Church. The couple ate fishballs at the church gates before the Mass.

Sanchez has been scarcely seen in political events of Roxas since her husband decided to give way to Aquino and settle for the vice presidency. With a report from Jo Martinez-Clemente, Inquirer Central Luzon