Hacienda Luisita is a 6,453 hectare sugarcane plantation owned by the Cojuangco family, to which both

– the former and the current presidents belong. Though the plantation was supposed to be distributed
to 6,296 landless farmers under the national agrarian reform program known as the Comprehensive
Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) in 1988, a stock distribution option (SDO) was implemented in 1989,
giving the farm workers corporate stocks as an alternative to land distribution. In December 2005, the
Presidential Agrarian Reform Council (PARC) issued a resolution which revoked the SDO and directed the
Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) to redistribute the land under the CARP. Nevertheless, the land
redistribution process was stalled by the Temporary Restraining Order issued by the Supreme Court in
August 2006 and the land has still not been distributed.

a mode of complying with the land reform law that did not require actual transfer of the land to the
tiller.

The CARL included a provision that authorized stock distribution as a mode of compliance; the SDO
allowed a corporate landowner to give its farmers and farmworkers shares of its stocks in lieu of actually
distributing the land to them

The matter of issuance/distribution shares of stocks in lieu of actual distribution of the agricultural land
involved, was made totally dependent on the discretion/caprice of HLI. Under the setup, the agreement
is grossly onerous to the FWBs as their man days of work cannot depart from whatever management HLI
unilaterally directs. (farmer unta mu choose kung stock or land)

Galang said the SDO virtually made the farm workers give up their rightful claim to the agricultural lands
of the hacienda in exchange for meager shares of capital stock and production shares.

“The SDO formula in HLI was used by the Cojuangcos to evade physical land distribution and has in fact
strengthened their control over the hacienda,” said Galang.

In a stock distribution option (non-land transfer program of CARP), the farmers

become
stock owners, meaning, they are given rights to purchase capital stocks, equities or
shares from the corporate landowners and association.
Having acquired shares of stocks, dividend and other financial benefits and
representation in the seat of the board of directors; they also acquire management
rights in the corporate farm concerned.