The Philippine Online Chronicles

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Liberal Party (LP) standard-bearer Senator Noynoy Aquino announced during the formal launching of his campaign at his father’s ancestral home in Concepcion, Tarlac that he would see to it that land in the 6,453-hectare Hacienda Luisita is redistributed among its tenants within the next five years, in accordance with new agrarian laws.

Hacienda Luisita has been in the Cojuangco-Aquino clan for decades. Controversy has surrounded it following repeated claims by farmer-tenants that they have not received their due share of the land despite the passage of laws like the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) and last year’s CARP Extension with Reforms. In addition, although the tenants are stockholders in the Hacienda, they receive only P700 to P800 dividends each year, and P800 to P3,000 in production earnings.

The Cojuangco-Aquino clan has also been plagued with accusations that they were responsible for the Mendiola and Hacienda Luisita massacres, where farmers rallying for land reform and adequate compensation were killed. Aquino has dismissed such claims as "propaganda."

According to Aquino, the problem is that the Hacienda is mired in debt and that transferring it to the tenants right away would also transfer the debt.

“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,” he said during a press conference.

“We could have made a voluntary offer to sell from day one if we were only after our own interest,” he added. “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.”

Aquino said that he had already talked to his relatives “who are running the hacienda” to begin dialogue with the 10,000 tenants as to how to effect the land transfer.

Aquino's spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said that Aquino is set to see his promise through whether he wins the elections or not.

"It's not just a campaign promise,” he said. “It's a matter of principle."