HACIENDA LUISITA — Protesting laborers and farm workers here, joined by their respective families and reinforced by militant activists, have practically taken control over nearly all movements in this sprawling sugar estate owned by the family of former President Corazon Aquino.
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Luisita resumes milling operations as tension eases
HACIENDA LUISITA — Tension has somewhat eased in this 6,000-hectare sugar plantation, as the ranks of the protesters who locked up the refinery during the weekend have thinned out, allowing the Central Azucarera de Tarlac (CAT) to resume its milling operations noontime Monday.
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Truck attacks force Luisita mill closure anew
HACIENDA LUISITA — The “violent and destructive” actions being carried out by alleged “troublemakers” among the ranks of protesters here has forced Luzon’s biggest sugar mill to shutdown anew its operations Tuesday morning, after these were briefly resumed around noontime last Monday.
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7-month long Rabbit strike ends
TARLAC CITY — The almost seven-month long strike in one of the country’s oldest transport company finally came to an end, as the Philippine Rabbit Bus Lines (PRBL) commenced plying major routes from Metro Manila to Central and Northern Luzon again.
Subic allows FedEx to operate ecozone hub until 2013
TARLAC CITY — The Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) has recently decided to extend the lease contract of air courier giant, the Federal Express (FedEx), up to August 2010.
Int’l media watchdog: RP hostile for journalists
TARLAC CITY — Although the country has a “free and lively press,” the Philippines has been counted by the Paris-based international media watchdog as one of the places most hostile to journalists.
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The Tarlac Headlines News Central displays all the news of our latest issues.
October 1 - 31, 2004
Militants lose grip over Luisita union
TARLAC CITY — Militants identified with mainstream Left-leaning groups have apparently lost their hold over the union of farmworkers inside the Cojuangco-owned Hacienda Luisita here, as its president and vice president, including their lawyer, were unseated.
In a statement by the corporate affairs office of the Hacienda Luisita, Inc. (HLI), the firm that oversees all the operations in the 6,000-hectare sugar plantation owned by former President Corazon Aquino’s family, it attributed this development in the United Luisita Workers’ Union (ULWU) to an “intra-union controversy.”
Based on resolutions that were said to have been “duly adopted and approved by majority of the ULWU officers,” Rene Galang and Ildefonso Pingol were “unceremoniously dropped” as president and vice president, respectively.
Replacing Galang was Ronaldo Alcantara, while Alberto Santos assumed Pingol’s position.
The ULWU officers who instigated the move pointed out that Galang and Pingol have “technically ceased to be union members, and could no longer perform their duties nor represent the union in any bargaining talks.”
The two union officers, including eight other ULWU officials, were among the 327 farmworkers who were laid off by the HLI last Oct. 1.
Management has claimed that it had to resort to a mass retrenchment in its more than 5,000 workforce as part of cost-cutting measures following supposed operational losses amounting to P215.11 million in 2002 and P165.49 million last year.
One of the purported “compelling reasons” cited why Galang and Pingol had to be removed from the ULWU leadership was the ongoing collective bargaining agreement (CBA) between management and union.
Following their being unseated, Galang and Pingol were also prevented from using union funds.
Another ULWU resolution was the non-recognition of lawyer Nenita Mahinay as counsel for the union.
Galang, Pingol and Mahinay are known to be allied with militant groups such as the party-lists Bayan Muna and Anakpawis, as well as the radical Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU), Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) and Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan).
The ULWU officers designated lawyer Zoilo dela Cruz, president of the National Congress of Unions in the Sugar Industry of the Philippines (NACUSIP), as their new legal counsel. The union is affiliated with NACUSIP.
The HLI said in its statement that since Mahinay became counsel for the ULWU and the Central Azucarera de Tarlac Labor Union (CATLU), the labor group representing the sugar estate’s factory workers, “labor disputes usually resulted to deadlocks, causing work stoppages because of strikes and lockouts.”
Militants however see the management’s hand in the removal of Galang, Pingol and Mahinay, pointing out that the inclusion of the two union leaders in the mass layoff manifested HLI’s resort to “union busting.”
Describing Galang and Pingol as “genuine labor leaders,” militant groups here said that the Cojuangco-owned firm will now be able to “railroad” the new round of CBA talks with the ULWU.
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