A Screenshot From The Webinar
A Screenshot From The Webinar.

“Lupa at Hustisya” event remembers 18 years since the Hacienda Luisita massacre


Unyon ng mga Manggagawa sa Agrikultura reminded people about the Hacienda Luisita massacre and the activism efforts by our local farmers.


By Wallace Beltran | Monday, 21 November 2022

Remembering 18 years since the Hacienda Luisita massacre, the online webinar named “Lupa at Hustisya” discussed the timeline of the events which led to the strike and the continuous activism by farmers.

 

Organized by De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde and Unyon ng Mga Manggagawa sa Agrikultura (UMA), “Lupa at Hustisya” aimed to educate the Benildean community about the Hacienda Massacre. The event went on to look into the current state of the farmers in Tacloban.

 

Beginning with a screening of the short documentary “Sa Ngalan ng Tubo,” which tackled the timeline of farmers leading up to the welgang bayan and the massacre, including bloody recordings of the event itself.

 

Benilde and the Hacienda Luisita Peasant Supporters Network (HLPSN) worked together for NSTP and immersion purposes from 2011 to 2016. Separate from the partnership, the speaker from Central Luzon, Ms. Pia Montalban, mentioned how some students and faculty members from the College even went with them with different placards in front of the Supreme Court.

 

The event continued as Ms. Montalban discussed the history of the massacre and the continuous fight of the farmers from the actual massacre to the 2012 decision by the Supreme Court to distribute the land to the farmers and its effects to this day. Montalban shared how, despite the decision, there were still questionable actions against the farmers.

 

Later on, UMA volunteer Angelo Suarez presented a poetry book and komik pamphlet from UMA on the different fights of farmers, which was launched on Nov. 19. The book entitled “Luisita” is a compilation of poetry by revolutionary martyr Kerima Lorena Tariman on the activism of the farmers from Hacienda Luisita. The komik pamphlet “Tuloy ang Laban” narrates the conditions that pushed the beginning of the farmers’ fight.

 

More information about “Luisita” and “Tuloy ang Laban” and more resources on the Hacienda Luisita Massacre can be found on UMA’s Facebook page.