Hacienda Luisita - what's your take on this

[chieffy]

ha ha showbiz lang katapat nila ayos na....

ayos yung board na iyon...dapt meron nyan malapit sa lahat government offices/buildings...

[woulfe27]

Originally posted by wowiesy
ito ata ang tunay na agenda nila eh... pabagsakin lahat para marami ang mamundok.. para dumami ang sumapi sa kanila... when that time comes.. sila ang mag hahari... they can rule with their own version of power...

communism by itself i guess is dying a slow death.... look at china... unti unti, their economy is being transformed to being a capitalist system na... and it's okay for them... lumalago ang economy nila.. definitely hindi pantay pantay sa china... yung mga kotse nila iba iba... yung mga tirahan nila iba iba din... so sa political side na lang umiiral ang communism sa china.. but then who knows in the future... baka mabago na rin ito...

but china would not have achieved its high level of economic growth if did not turn communist. remember, feudal din dati ang sistema dyan, na maraming naghahari-harian na landowners na pinagsisilbihan naman ng mga serfs. nawala lang yan nung maupo si Mao at nagkaroon ng land reform, although sya naman ang naging hari. Kung hindi naging communist ang China, parang India lang sya ngayon. pero ngayon na asenso na sya, pwede n sya bumalik sa free market economy, kase na-established na nya yung mga industries nya. which wouldn't have happened in a feudal system. ni hindi nga nila matalo japan dati e.

[silver_corolla]

Glimpses : La Hacienda Luisita

HACIENDA Luisita is a symbol of a past that is fades away slower than most others. The violent incident that transpired last Tuesday, Nov. 16, however, signals that the traditional form of the vast estate may finally give way to the demands of a social evolution.
Starting out as a Spanish grant, Luisita was a 12,000 hectare property that belonged to Tabacalera, a Spanish company that still produces quality cigars. In 1927, Tabacalera opened a sugar mill to complement its planting operations, which included sugar, rice and tobacco. Thirty years later, Tabacalera volunteered half of Luisita to land reform, the half that was planted with rice under the tenure of President Magsaysay. In 1958, Tabacalera sold the remaining 6,000 hectares to Jose Cojuangco Sr.

Although the communist rebellion stalked Central Luzon for a long time, Luisita was spared being an arena for violence. It was a testimony to the family culture of the Jose Cojuangco family that peace reigned in a plantation that represented the status quo which the Left wanted to destroy.

From that culture was born and raised Corazon S. Cojuangco who later married Ninoy Aquino and became the first woman president of the Philippines in the miraculous EDSA People Power Revolution.

In 1987, the bloody incident at Mendiola Bridge, the main access to Malacañang, became the final straw that broke a tenuous relationship between former anti-Marcos forces represented by Corazon Aquino and the rebellious National Democratic Front and the New People's Army. The Left tried, of course, to picture Corazon Aquino as a product of the elite and responsible for the lives of the slain Mendiola protesters. Unfortunately for her detractors, the image of Cory Aquino as a prayerful and peaceful person could not be dislodged from the minds of the Filipino people.

Today, reports have it that fourteen protestors were killed outside the gates of Hacienda Luisita. Because the temptation to drag Cory Aquino, by virtue of being one of the owners of Luisita, was just too strong to resist, many media reports gave more attention to that partial ownership than the sticky issues that caused the strike in the first place. And, maybe, the more important facet of Luisita far beyond the squabbles of retrenchment is that it is a symbol of historical elitism.

It is ironic that the clash at the gates of Luisita forced two allies to confront each other, more by force of circumstance than intent. It is not about the striking workers and the management of Luisita, but of Peping, Tingting and China Cojuangco as shareholders of Luisita and Satur
Ocampo, Teddy Casiño, and Liza Maza as leaders of the militant Bayan group, Bayan Muna party-list group, and the KMU labor group.

The most unlikely of allies intermittently brought together by common causes, members of the classic Right and the classic Left proved that warm human relationships can often be powerful links that effectively bridge ideological gaps.

The Luisita situation, which is far from over, also shows how people can be victims of repressive systems that provoke counter aggression, that friendships can be torn apart by the dynamics of necessary and often radical change. Hard-line ideologies matched with human insecurities and occasional paranoia usually end up with bloody purges and killing fields. Family ties and friendships are often severely tested, with brother betraying brother, with friend killing friend. Tenuous alliances are only a small sacrifice.

Lives, too, are small sacrifices in the battlefield. The Left has decided to take on Luisita, not so much because of minor labor differences, but because it is Luisita. There are additional reasons why Luisita is a special concern for the Left. Foremost is that the Cojuangco family, with the support of the great majority of their farm and mill workers, managed to retain control of the management of the estate. Agrarian reform beneficiaries with ownership certificates in Luisita earn more and do so more consistently than their counterparts who actually took control of awarded land, many have sold them against agrarian reform rules.

Many, if not the actual majority of agrarian reform beneficiaries have lost the land that a most controversial law had awarded them. They now have no land, no work, and are mere statistics in urban poor communities. The impact of centuries of colonial rule simply could not be erased by a piece of paper a deed that indicated ownership but not emancipation. It could be that communists had initial success in Russia and a continuing one in China, enough to give some Filipinos the determination that communism could work in the Philippines.

It cannot, not for as long as Luisita and others like it stand as mute evidence that other alternatives may work better for the long suffering poor. Ideologies, after all, were evolved from the frustration of those oppressed by feudal lords, monarchs, and oligarchs. These theoretical political frameworks promise a better life that most of them have not delivered, at least not in the Philippines. That is why Luisita stands threatened, but still stands.

Political and economic movements take turns in driving nations to adopt substantial changes at certain periods of history. Before land reform could experiment with consistent success, globalization swept the world, and the Philippines with it. The threats of globalization are varied and powerful, and productive agrarian reform became one of its first victims. When globalization began to reward more intensely the economies of scale, small landowners and farm operations could not compete.

A plantation like Luisita may survive globalization, but just barely. A cut-up version of Luisita with new owners tilling one hectare each would only be a trophy for some ideologue somewhere but could be a poison pill to many who strove so hard to swallow it.

FOR AS LONG, THOUGH, AS BLOOD SPILLS IN PROTEST AND DEFENSE, NO ONE WINS EXCEPT THOSE WHO ONLY WAIT TO PICK UP THE PIECES.

[niky]

Originally posted by woulfe27
but china would not have achieved its high level of economic growth if did not turn communist. remember, feudal din dati ang sistema dyan, na maraming naghahari-harian na landowners na pinagsisilbihan naman ng mga serfs. nawala lang yan nung maupo si Mao at nagkaroon ng land reform, although sya naman ang naging hari. Kung hindi naging communist ang China, parang India lang sya ngayon. pero ngayon na asenso na sya, pwede n sya bumalik sa free market economy, kase na-established na nya yung mga industries nya. which wouldn't have happened in a feudal system. ni hindi nga nila matalo japan dati e.

I beg to differ. The reason China is prospering is because of a growing middle and upper class, primarily former members of the communist party and their beneficiaries... NOT because of the Communist system... they are struggling to catch up (technologically) right now because the Maoists have suppressed and killed a lot of the academics and scientists... demonizing them in the eyes of the people.

China's economic power during the communist years was a result of their vast labor force and circumvention of copyright and trade laws.

The Chinese miracle now is due to a mixture of factors, the downfall of communism elsewhere, the lure of wealth to the former communists, the gradual laxing of strict government control over wealth over the last few decades, trade wrangling and negotiations with the US and other countries over the past few decades... China is as much a product of capitalistic intrusion as communist roots, but a lot of it is due to traditional Chinese values and work ethic also.

Communisms don't work... Socialisms (like in Canada, Sweden, and some West European countries) DO. Communism treats the person as a production unit... a drone... Socialism is a more humane form, in which the needs of the people are foremost, not the needs of the state.

[driven]

whatever the problem is, sana malaman na kaagad kung sino nagpaumpisa ng gulo at putukan ng baril, para magawan na ng corrective action...

[tagalnasaabroad]

hhmm..sangkatutak na mga political, social, economic analysis at scenarios ng mga posters naglalabasan dito aba..

masasabi kolang mga cojuanco walang kwentang nilalang 'yan..

kaya sila joma sison, satur, etc. nagblood compact nang mga 'yan para maibigay sa mahihirap ang karapatang hindi man lang natikman ilang generasyon na nakaraan..

sakit ulo naman ni GMA 'to; kampi kasi si cory sa kanya nong nanalo sya..baka mapressure ng husto si pat sto tomas mag-alsa balutan na sa DOLE..

sabagay lilipas lang yan after a while at balik nanaman sa masakit ng katotohanan ang lahing pilipino na sinalo na halos lahat ang kamalasan sa mundo..

pero...me bukas pang darating..sana tumama na sa lotto lahat ng pilipino..wheyy..

[pissword]

lahat na isasawsaw siguro dyan at lahat na magkakagulo dahil sa HL... naku!!!

[vixen]

just want to make a correction noh, the workers were asking P100 only for a minimum wage and P25,000 bonus plus other benefits (that means, bukod sa angal nila sa sahod eh wala pala silang nkukuhang ibang benepisyo.)

but the mangement can only offer P12.00/per day for salary. (do the math!)

tsk.tsk.tsk.

hard knock life nga.

[pissword]

ms vixen, it was earlier reported na 200 po...

ms vixen, buti nga nakakapagbigay pa ng 12/day kahit na palugi na ang HL

[van_wilder]

ang sagot? alisin ang labor union para yun 20% mapunta sa mga manggagawa... ieducate sila about business para maintindihan nila yun concepts at hindi sila magdemand ng mga hindi feasible na bagay...

sa mga demands nila para ko na rin sinabi sa nanay ko na bilan ako ng ferrari at pa-gasan niya araw-araw...

[van_wilder]

kung lahat tayo mayaman, sino magmamalabanan? sino magtraffic? sino ang magtratrabaho para sa iba? ano pa silbi ng buhay...

basta tama yun sinabi ni hens na mahalin mo trabaho mo... para sa akin mahalin mo talaga, kung ayaw mo yun trabaho eh di lumipat ka, kung wala kang makuha mahalin mo na lang at maghanda para mag-negosyo o mag-aral ulit para makakuha ng trabaho... ang problema sa mga manggawa ay hindi ang lack of opportunity, kung hindi yun hindi nila nakikita yun opportunity dahil mahirap maattain yun gusto nila, mindset nila ang may problema...

sa mga mayayaman naman wag rin kayo maging sugapa... kaya naman pagbigyan at tulungan ang mahihirap kung gugustuhin... look at henry ford... dati hindi ako naniniwala pero nun kwinento sa akin ng mom ko yun ginawa ng lolo ko nagbago paningin ko... kaya naman eh, at kung magiging masaya ang mga tao mo, lalo silang maging productive...

[woulfe27]

Just implement the law. Put HL under land reform. Batas yun e, so dapat sundin. Problema sa Pinas sandamakmak na batas di naman naiimplement. Nanghuhuli pa ba ngayun ng hindi naka seatbelt?

[vsm712]

tsk