A Movie analysis on… Sa Ngalan ng Tubo

It was in 1957 when a man named Jose Conjuanco Sr. bought the majority of the shares of the Central Azucarera de Tarlac, including a 6 453-hectare Hacienda Luisita from a Spanish company, by using a loan from the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) and from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). Attached to this event is the Stock Distribution Option (SDO), this agreement substantiates that the landownerthe Conjuanco family—must distribute the said lands to the more than 5,000 farmers who are working on the said agricultural land of sugarcanes. Nevertheless, another agreement—the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) of 1989—between the owner, the government and the workers, which runs down the obligation of the owner to alleviate –if not help- the living conditions of its workers, that includes the giving of appropriate benefits such as work, wage, residence and above all, land to the said workers.

On the contrary, years have passed but still (I hope lightning strikes on them) the numerous provisions and conditions being agreed, promised and guaranteed by the owner was not put to utter practice. After 16 years of implementing the SDO at the hacienda, the grim statistics showed that the living conditions of the meager workers did not improve at all. Worse, it deteriorated through the years, which is the absolute opposite of the visions of the CARP. Certainly, how hard it would be to be a worker there. Just think of it, plantation workers and farmers were only given a day to work in a week and a P9.50-peso wage and from that P9.50, the workers are mind-boggled, mind-twisted, and mind-puzzled (and all that minds) on how they would budget and properly allocate the said wage to the cost of their basic commodities. Truly, the equation is unbalanced. Undeniably, everything went to the extreme opposite, to the negative of the negatives, to the bottom of the inferno, to the things that went otherwise! Yes, the pitiful farmer beneficiaries –or shall we say the salves of time and corruption- is deprived of their right to live in a just and fair society and to live in the abundance of the fruits of their work.

In this light, 16 years have passed since the SDO agreement started, people from the lower stratum of the affected area realized that too many negotiations were made to straighten things up, yet failed to comply with what they want, if not, they were just temporary and limited. So, like any other places in this world, the last and final resort to this kind of Draconian acts of abuse, exploitation, and corruption is: “bring all arguments on the street!” Indeed, dominance of such brings the spirit of solidarity and unity; the liberty of what is right and righteous; and in such case, the courage to push the enemy from the picket line and beyond. Certainly, it is a reality that such are real, but the intangibles have yet to surface. For it brings fear, fear of the realities that such step brought them in the crossroad, in a fit, in a bind- for they are very vulnerable as against the combined forces of the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

It was then November 16, 2004 that marked Hacienda Luisita for good in history books. A negotiation, between Jose “Peping” Conjuanco of the owner’s side and the representatives of the plantation workers, was conducted to settle things down “temporarily.” But as usual, it failed. Right after that moment, a convoy of 10 trucks filled with crowd-control units, as well as, two war tanks immediately forwarded to the arena of conflict: at the entrance of the hacienda. Unfortunately, as the waves started to favor the deprived workers, violent crowd dispersal, via a rain of bullets, left seven dead and several protesters hurt on the field of that afternoon.

From that point, I then lost my intimate trust to the said “Protectors of the People.” Now I want to ask them this question, to whom do they really protect is it the majority, which were the ones they dispersed vehemently or is it the elite, which controlled their mind set from ascertaining the real enemy? For if, they have failed miserably in this essence, then nothing can be more devastating enough than to lose one’s real identity: that they themselves also belong to that of the said majority. For then they can ask themselves another question, to whom do they really oath to serve? It is then fraudulent to say that they are just doing their job to hasten the shutting of the farmer’s clamor. Well, we can only let the unanswered query linger for that matter.

Moreover, the moves of the deprived workers of the hacienda were perhaps an instinctual move just to provide the future generation the gifts of sacrifice. For to sacrifice is to undo the cloak of greed, of personal interest, for the good of others. For to sacrifice is to master against all odds. Even if there was blood shed, the grounds of dispute were still logical: to achieve future land harmony in the end. Like what Nicholas Machiavelli once said, “the ends justify the means.”Sa ngalan ng tubo, abangan ang susunod na kabanata… However, we cannot be sure of if this is the end of their quest for future harmony so –