At a dialogue with Philippine National Police Chief Edgardo Aglipay at his Camp Crame residence during lunch today the militant Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) demanded that all the troops in the Hacienda Luisita estate be pulled out, so that it would create a conducive atmosphere for the negotiations going-on between  the Cojuangco-Aquinos and the strikers. 

According to Danilo “Ka Daning” Ramos, secretary general of KMP, “ the military and the police should drop their claim that the Hacienda Luisita issue is a matter of national security. They are just using this as a pretext to justify their increasing presence in the estate. They even tried to link the encounter between the NPA and the military in Victoria, Tarlac to the strike, to give credence to their claim,”

“But in actuality the real threat is the military and the police themselves. Were not they the ones who massacred the strikers last November 16? They should really not get involved in this dispute because it does not concern them,” added the peasant leader.

“All we are asking now is for the problems of land and labor in the hacienda be resolved at the soonest time possible. The farm workers and workers of the estate have suffered long and hard enough, it is but righteous that their demands be given,” ended Ramos. # # #

KMP - 28 January 2005