Fire at the hacienda

In a dispute, violence can only set back any settlement. The fire last Friday that destroyed crops in about 300 hectares of sugarcane fields in Hacienda Luisita will heighten tension in the 6,000-hectare plantation owned by the family of President Aquino in Tarlac.

Police must make sure the investigation of the incident will be credible. The fire, believed to be a case of arson, occurred as Luisita farmers waited for the implementation of a Supreme Court order for the distribution of the sugar lands. The SC order invalidated a stock option scheme that had allowed Hacienda Luisita Inc., owned by the Cojuangco clan, to avoid parceling out of the sugar lands to tenants under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program. Reports said HLI would no longer appeal the SC ruling.

Investigators are reportedly preparing to file arson charges against 30 farmers including the chairman of the Alyansang Magbubukid ng Asyenda Luisita. AMBALA as well as two other organizations of farmers in Luisita have denied involvement in the fire. In a statement yesterday, the three groups alleged that HLI itself set off the fire so criminal charges could be filed against the farmers’ leaders.

The decades-long history of the plantation is replete with controversy and marred by eruptions of violence. Only a thorough investigation will keep the fire from triggering an escalation of conflict. President Aquino has tried to distance himself from the plantation, pointing out that his shares in the company were reduced to a negligible amount some time ago.

Because he is the most prominent member of the clan at this time, however, many Filipinos see him as the face of Hacienda Luisita. The President must make it clear to the police that he wants nothing less than a thorough, credible investigation – a difficult task under the circumstances, but not impossible to accomplish. A credible probe is needed in the equally important task of preventing the spread of violence at the hacienda. - (Philstar News Service, www.philstar.com)