FastFacts: Hacienda Luisita Philippine Daily Inquirer 4:00 am | Wednesday, April 25th, 2012 4,915.

75 hectares Total area of agricultural land covered by the stock distribution program which was approved in November 1989 500 hectares Area that had been converted for residential-industrial-commercial use200 hectares were sold to Luisita Realty Corp. while 300 hectares were sold to Luisita Industrial Park Corp. 80.51 hectares Area sold to the government as part of the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEx) 4,335 hectares Land to be distributed to farmworker-beneficiaries (FWBs) or their successors in interest 6,296 Total number of original FWBs of Hacienda Luisita who will benefit from the Supreme Court decision 4,206 Total number of nonqualified FWBs, or those who will not benefit from the high courts ruling P196.6 million The value of 4,915.75 hectares at 1989 prices

HaciendaLuisitaTimeline Philippine Daily Inquirer 2:11 am | Wednesday, April 25th, 2012 1957Jose Cojuangco Sr. acquires Central Azucarera de Tarlac, including Hacienda Luisita, from the Spanish company Compania General de Tabacos de Filipinas (Tabacalera) through a Central Bank-guaranteed loan from the Government Service Insurance System and a dollar loan from the Manufacturers Trust of New York. The loans are secured on condition that the estate will be distributed to farmers under President Ramon Magsaysays social justice program. The properties are transferred to Cojuangcos Tarlac Development Corp. (Tadeco). May 7, 1980The Marcos government files a civil case before the Manila Regional Trial Court (RTC) to compel the distribution of the land to farm workers. Dec. 2, 1985Manila RTC orders the transfer of the hacienda to the Ministry of Agrarian Reform, which will distribute the land to farmers after compensating the landowners P3.988 million. The Cojuangcos brought the case to the Court of Appeals. February 1986Cory C. Aquino, one of Cojuangcos five heirs and the widow of slain Sen. Ninoy Aquino, is installed as President after People Power Revolution ousts Marcos. July 22, 1987Aquino issues Presidential Proclamation No. 131 and Executive Order No. 229 calling for a Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP). March 17, 1988Solicitor general files motion to dismiss the civil case against the Cojuangcos, citing CARP; court grants motion. June 10, 1988CARP law is enacted, provides stock distribution option (SDO) scheme as an alternative to land distribution. Aug. 23, 1988Tadeco creates Hacienda Luisita Inc. (HLI) for SDO deal. May 9, 1989In a referendum, 92.6 percent of farmers voted yes to SDO; assets of HLI is put at P590 million, of which P196.6 million comprise the value of the agricultural land. Oct. 14, 2003Supervisors petition DAR to revoke SDO, saying HLI was not giving them dividends, their one-percent share in gross sales and 33-percent share in the proceeds from the conversion of 500 hectares of land. Dec. 4, 20035,000 farmers file a supplemental petition to revoke SDO, claiming deal is unconstitutional. Nov. 16, 2004Seven people are killed and scores are injured in a violent dispersal of striking workers. Sept. 30, 2005DAR cancels SDO, orders distribution to farmers of estate. Dec. 20, 2005The Presidential Agrarian Reform Council (PARC) upholds DAR decision. HLI asks the Supreme Court to nullify the PARC resolution. June 2006Supreme Court issues a temporary restraining order against PARCs resolution. July 5, 2011Court upholds DAR revocation of SDO, but calls for another referendum. Nov. 22, 2011 Responding to an appeal, court votes 14-0 for distribution of 4,195 hectares of the hacienda to 6,296 farm worker-beneficiaries, sets 1989 as basis for land valuation. HLI files a motion for reconsideration and clarification against the high tribunals ruling. Inquirer Research Source: Inquirer Archives

DARneedstodistribute961,974hectaresin2years By Kristine L. Alave Philippine Daily Inquirer 2:27 am | Saturday, June 16th, 2012 At least 900,000 hectares of private landholdings are slated for acquisition and distribution in the last two years of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP), the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) said in a report. The report by DAR Secretary Virgilio de los Reyes said that the DAR would focus on acquiring and distributing 961,974 hectares of land from 107,639 landholdings, most of these are private agricultural land. Plagued by challenges The report also identified several challenges that have plagued the acquisition and distribution process, among them coming up with the amount needed to buy the mostly private estates through compulsory acquisition, the lack of surveyors, the tedious verification process, uncooperative officials in agencies like the Land Registration Authority (LRA), as well as ironing out technical issues with landowners, some of whom have bucked the agrarian reform program by resorting to the stock distribution option (SDO). Its easy to distribute land that is yours. But the government would have to pay for these lands, De los Reyes said in an interview on Friday, referring to the 93.58 percent or 900,188 hectares of private agricultural land covered by CARP. Compulsory acquisition A large portion of previous acquisitions are government-owned lands, voluntary land transfers, and voluntary offer to sell, De los Reyes said in his report. These are the less tedious and less contentious to distribute. Today, however, 62 percent or 596,036 hectares of the land acquisition and distribution (LAD) balance will be covered through compulsory acquisition (CA), the report added. The DAR also has to iron out some technical issues with landowners, including the inventory of these private estates that the agency failed to do from 2008-2010, and only resumed when he took over in 2010, De los Reyes said. The report said that the Land Bank of the Philippines has released the funds for landowner compensation totaling P7.9 billion, representing 2010 and 2011 allocations. An additional P5 billion was budgeted for 2012. 63,755 beneficiaries The DAR report said that the agency was able to give 111,889 hectares to 63,755 beneficiaries nationwide in 2011. For 2012, the DAR was given P18 billion that would cover 240,247 hectares for distribution this year and 111,000 hectares in 2013. According to the DAR, some 4.2 million hectares of agricultural land have been distributed to almost 2.5 million beneficiaries from 1987 to December 2010.

No capacity De los Reyes also assured farmers that all landholdings covered by CARP would be distributed to farmer-beneficiaries before the term of President Aquino ends in 2016. His statement was however disputed by Ian Rivera, convener of the Save Agrarian Reform Alliance in Mindanao, who said that the DAR does not have the capacity to meet its target of redistributing ownership of close to a million hectares of land in four years. That means about 240,000 hectares per year, Rivera said, adding that since 2009, the DARs average LAD performance is between 90,000 hectares to 100,000 hectares. But De los Reyes said that the DAR is right on schedule in land acquisition and distribution despite the fact that the remaining lands to be distributed are the more contentious ones and requires a longer and more tedious process to acquire and distribute. Landowner compensation He explained that some 93 percent of the LAD balance involves private agricultural lands, of which 816,491 hectares would require landowner compensation. At least 596,036 hectares would be covered through compulsory acquisition, he added. According to the DARs calculation, the balance of land to be distributed would shrink between 305,678 hectares to 514,311 hectares in 2013. In 2014, the year when the land distribution program expires, the projected balance is between 179,778 hectares to 390,100 hectares. DAR officials said land distribution in the past had been hampered by the lack of surveyors and the tedious verification process. Regional DAR officials and potential beneficiaries also had to deal with uncooperative officials in agencies like the LRA. Mass processing De los Reyes said the DAR has implemented measures to fast-track the processing of these lands, including an agreement with the LRA that would allow the DAR to request the mass processing of documents required from the LRA and the environment department. The DAR would also bid out the services for the surveys of disputed lands, the same method used in Hacienda Luisita, due to the sheer number of lots, the agrarian reform official added. Legal challenges The DAR has to grapple with legal challenges as well, including the conversion of agricultural lands and the stock distribution option. Since the 1990s, the DAR has allowed 13 plantations covering 7,700 hectares to distribute shares of stock instead of land to their tenant farmers under the CARP. According to data from the DAR, the SDO implemented by 13 estates were met by formal protests, except for two haciendas, one in Iloilo and another in Negros Occidental. The rest, including that of Hacienda Luisita, the biggest plantation to implement the SDO at 4,916 hectares, have been challenged at the DAR. With a report by Ryan D. Rosauro, Inquirer Mindanao

CARPextensionOKbutnotnecessary,saysDARchief By DJ Yap Philippine Daily Inquirer 6:19 am | Saturday, November 10th, 2012 MANILA, PhilippinesAgrarian Reform Secretary Virgilio delos Reyes on Friday welcomed the proposed five-year extension of the agrarian reform law, but said it was not necessary, but it wont hurt either. Delos Reyes said there was no urgent need to extend the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) by another five years upon its expiration in June 2014. He said the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) could still effectively fulfill its mandate of redistributing land to farmers even if the CARP extension with reforms law, or Carper, was terminated. Delos Reyes said the DAR would still be able to acquire and distribute land to legitimate beneficiaries provided the agency was able to issue notices of coverage to landholdings before Carpers expiration. Beyond expiration We can still distribute all those landholdings to which we have issued a notice of coverage even beyond the expiration of Carper, he said in an interview. Delos Reyes said some 500,000 to 600,000 landholdings were still in the process of being issued notices of coverage. But the DAR had already completed the coverage of 70 percent of all agricultural lands under its jurisdiction, he added. A new bill is pending at the House of Representatives to extend the CARP by another five years. The bill filed by Representatives Rufus Rodriguez of Cagayan de Oro and his brother Maximo of Abante Mindanao seeks the extension of Carper until June 30, 2019. The law expires on June 30, 2014. In June 1988, the government of then President Corazon Aquino enacted the CARP through Republic Act No. 6657 seeking a more equitable distribution of agricultural lands to farmers and farm workers. Extended until 2014 Subsequent amendments in Congress extended it until 2014, even though critics questioned the effectiveness of the law in resolving agrarian inequities, including the case of Hacienda Luisita, a sugar estate owned by President Aquinos family. In what was seen as an attempt to evade CARP coverage, the management of Hacienda Luisita offered farmers an option to own stocks instead of land in the late 1980s, prompting a long legal battle which the farmers eventually won. In May the Supreme Court upheld with finality the decision of the Presidential Agrarian Reform Council in 2005 to scrap the stock distribution option and to order the redistribution of 4,915 hectares of Hacienda Luisita to 6,296 farm workers. In an earlier interview, Delos Reyes estimated that some 900,000 hectares of land covered by Carper were still up for distribution to between 400,000 and 500,000 farmers. Another 300,000 hectares will still be left to distribute by the time the Carper expires in 2014, although ideally, all these shall have been issued notices of coverage by that time, he added.