Open Letter to Filipino Government Demanding Distribution of Lands to Hacienda Luisita Farmers
FIAN has sent an open letter to the President of the Philippines calling for the government to distribute land titles to the identified beneficiaries of Hacienda Luisita.
Hacienda Luisita is a sugarcane plantation in the Philippines that was due to be distributed in 1988 to over 6,000 landless farmers under a national agrarian reform program. In April of 2012, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled for land distribution and land valuation in favor of the farm workers, however, to date the land distribution process has been stalled.
The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) finally released the master list of farm worker beneficiaries with regard to the land at the end of February 2013. This is an important step towards implementing the agrarian reform program, and thus guaranteeing the right to food of 6212 farm workers and their families.
FIAN has sent an open letter to the President of the Philippines calling for the government to distribute land titles to the identified beneficiaries of Hacienda Luisita as well as to urge the DAR to provide necessary support services to the farmer beneficiaries throughout this transition and post-distribution phase.