LACRE, Melanie Louise Anne C.

BSP1B

Lupa at Hustisya: Hacienda Luisita

Over 6,000 hectares of vast sugar plantation in Tarlac City, and in the towns of
Conception and La Paz also in the province of Tarlac. Ten villages of farm workers
surrounding the Central Azucarera de Tarlac sugar mill. As big as the cities of
Manila and Makati when it is combined. This hectare is supposed to be distributed
to the farmers but until now the land are still not in their hands. Never have I
thought that the disagreement between the rich and the poor has already reached
this point. I cannot understand why the Cojuangcos never granted the wish of these
farmers. How can they be so greedy and selfish for refusing not to give the lands to
the farmers? These farmers’ request is as a matter of fact just a little wish that the
Cojuangcos can grant anytime if their heart is purely to help other people. We grew
up looking up to the Coquangcos-Aquino but little do we know, they have their
worst side as well. I just really cannot understand why the Cojuangcos cannot even
give a part of the land to the farmers, considering that they already have more than
what they deserve. Why is it so hard for them to see the need of others?

It is not right to execute a massacre; all they did was fight for their land but
what Cojuancos do? They did such an inhumane act over a land. I was raging with
anger seeing farmers running for their lives, trying to save themselves. They have
already been deprived of their own lands, and now they are on the verge of their
lives being taken by this greedy family. They were just asking for a little thing, and
it is just so frustrating that they had to risk their lives just to have this little thing
that they deserve. It is clearly that the government is not really in the side of the
poor. This video make my heartache because the government is greedy to powers
all they did to do is to step up to the poor. I cannot express how angry I am to the
Cojuangcos and to the police for trying to twist the society’s minds. We are not
fools. And yet, here they are with their thick-skinned faces saying that they have
not done anything wrong. What kind of people are they? My emotions started to
get along the way towards the end of the documentary when the video of the
farmers who have been shot were being presented. These people have no intentions
of starting a conflict first and foremost. They were just asking for wage increase
and a piece of land.

This video became an eye opener for me because it shows the reality of what’s
happening between the poor and the rich. I always knew about the issue regarding
Hacienda Luisita, but I never really saw the gravity of the problem. I admire the
farmers who show their undying love for the land they needed for their lives. It
showed how far people would go to defend their rights as human beings for their
survival and how the government and Cojuancos failed to put themselves in the
shoes of these people. I hope that they won the fight get the land they deserve. This
issue is the evidence of incompetence, selfish act of the Conjuancos and Aquino.