PRESIDENT Benigno Aquino III stood firm with his decision not to meddle on Hacienda Luisita Inc. (HLI) case despite pressure from the Catholic Church.
Presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said Tuesday that it would be better for the President to remain aloof to avoid false impression since his relatives in the maternal side are the primary subject of the issue.
“Maselan po kasi ang kanyang sitwasyon ngayon. Kapag siya ang nakialam baka sabihin may interference on his part,” Lacierda said, adding what the President could contribute for now is to ensure that the law will be abided and enforced.
“What he is sworn to do it to abide and to obey the law. To enforce and execute the laws of the land one of them is Carper,” he noted.
Aquino will leave the matter to the Supreme Court since the compromise agreement was already submitted to the high tribunal for approval.
“From the very start he has never involved himself in the discussion. Kung ngayon siya makikialam hindi magandang tingnan,” said Lacierda.
The President during the campaign also distanced himself in the HLI dispute, noting that he already stripped his shares in the sugar estate located in Tarlac province.
Lacierda said Aquino would only want the issue of HLI and its farmers to be resolved without his intervention.
“He hopes that the compromise agreement is something that will favor the beneficiary,” he said.
Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo has urged the President to step in the agreement of HLI and its farmer beneficiaries to ensure that the farmers are getting a fair deal.
HLI has claimed that 70 percent of its 10,502 farmworker-shareholders have chosen stock distribution option over land distribution.
Church officials feared for the implications and complications of the deal, thus they challenged President Aquino to look at the positions of the farmers and ensure that the land reform law will be implemented.
But Lacierda said the President is willing to have a dialogue with Pabillo to explain his side not to meddle on deal. (Jill Beltran/Sunnex)