The militant Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) condemned in the strongest terms, the bloody massacre perpetrated by the 69th Infantry Battalion, with the instigation of the Cojuangco-Aquino families and with the consent of the Department of Labor and Emoployment and Malacanang.

 At an indignation rally in front of the Cojuanco offices in Makati, Danilo “Ka Daning” Ramos, secretary general of the group lambasted the Cojuangco family for yet again spilling the blood of peasants. “In the Mendiola Massacre, it was President Corazon Cojuangco-Aquino, who gave the order to fire upon the farmers who were only calling for the implementation of genuine land reform, now 17 years later another massacre was perpetrated by her family yet again. Madam Cory may be aptly dubbed as the new “Massacre Queen” dethroning her daughter Kris,”

“The issue now as it was then is land, for farmers to have the right to till the land but now it is also compounded by the fact that the Hacienda Luisita is under the “Stock Distribution Option” a scheme to further concentrate the land under the control of the Cojuangcos’ even if it is under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP). This just further exposes CARP as bogus and an anti-farmer program,” added the peasant leader.

 “It is primarily the issue of land that the farm workers are fighting for and for the return to work of their retrenched colleagues? Does this warrant 2 tanks, more than 20 rounds of tear gas, a slew of smoke grenade and firing upon the strikers? No amount of labor dispute warrants the use of that much force upon the farm workers, the military has no business in the picket line,” said Carl Anthony Ala, public information officer of KMP.

“The blood of Luisito Versola, Jun David, Neng Manalo, Neng Sosa, Florida Sibayan, Jesus Sosa, Sajid Ramos, Berto Sedora, Ricky Mendoza, Juancho Sanchez and Kagawad Joe and a slew of others are on the hands of the Cojuangcos. They have a growing list of crimes against the peasant masses. They were the people who put Cory into power and the people who toiled so that the Cojuangcos’and Aquinos can live in luxury. They were murdered because the Cojuangcos were just plain greedy,

The strikers were attacked at 3 pm yesterday and now zoning operations are being done by the military in the whole hacienda. More than 170 were arrested and scores were wounded. The military should immediately be pulled-out and they should be punished. All of those killed are residents of the hacienda, disproving the claim that outsiders are the ones manning the picket lines. # # #
 
 

KMP - 17 November 2004