Chief Justice asked to uphold Hacienda Luisita decision

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

FARMERS belonging to the Hacienda Luisita, a sprawling sugar estate owned by relatives of President Benigno Aquino III in Tarlac, asked Chief Justice Renato Corona to uphold the decision to distribute the land to them.

This developed as the counsel of farmer-beneficiaries feared that Corona’s possible removal might pave the way for the reversal of the November 22 resolution that ordered the land distribution and junked the stock distribution option.

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This scheme, according to the High Court, would result in inequity and prejudice to the farm workers as they will remain the minority stockholders.

"We (Corona) hope that he won't inhibit from the deliberations, and stand firm on total land distribution," Alyansa ng mga Manggagawang Bukid sa Hacienda Luisita (Ambala) lawyer Jobert Pahilga said.

Corona, a subject of an impeachment complaint at the Senate, earlier said he was a stumbling block to an individual who wanted to stop the distribution of Hacienda Luisita to the 4,915 farmer-beneficiaries.

Although he refused to identify the person, the Chief Justice may have been referring to President Benigno Aquino III as Malacañang maintained that it fully supported the High Court decision on the disputed estate.

But for Ambala, Corona’s successor may help overturn the decision even as 14 out of 15 justices decided in favor of the land distribution. Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio, who is also rumored to be a part of the plot to oust Corona, inhibited from the case.

"Clearly, the petitioner-movant is merely buying for time. It is waiting and hoping for some miracle to happen. Hopefully, even with the ongoing intramurals involving the Chief Justice, the Honorable Court should see it fit to immediately resolve to deny the motion filed by the petitioner-movant, affirm the 22 November 2011 resolution, and order its immediate execution," Ambala said in its 30-page comment to the motion for reconsideration filed by the Hacienda Luisita Inc. (HLI).

Asked for comment, HLI spokesperson Antonio Ligon said he "respectfully disagreed" with Ambala’s assertion.

“Let the SC (Supreme Court) appreciate the MR (motion for reconsideration) for what it is. Let’s not pre-empt the Court,” he told Sun.Star.

In his separate concurring and dissenting opinion, Corona said the farmer beneficiaries should return the shares of stock that they received to HLI under the invalid stock distribution option.

He said each of them should also be liable to pay HLI just compensation in the amount determined by the Department of Agrarian Reform based on the fair market value of the land as of November 21, 1989.

However, the HLI said in its appeal last year that the reckoning point in determining the valuation of the lands should be moved to January 2, 2006 or the date of the issuance of the notice of coverage under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program. (Sunnex)