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3 killed as security, workers clash at Aquino family farm

Updated 06:53pm (Mla time) Nov 16, 2004
Agence France-Presse



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(UPDATE) AT LEAST three people were killed when clashes broke out Tuesday between security forces and hundreds of sugar mill workers at a plantation owned by the family of former president Corazon Aquino, her son, Deputy Speaker for Luzon Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III said.

Aquino disclosed the information after Anakpawis Representative Rafael Mariano and Bayan Muna Representative Satur Ocampo condemned the violent dispersal of the workers of Hacienda Luisita following a breakdown in negotiations early Tuesday for better wages and the reinstatement of more than 300 laid-off colleagues, including union leaders.

Mariano interrupted plenary proceedings at the House of Representatives to tell his colleagues that he received reports that eight people were killed in the clashes at Hacienda Luisita in the northern province of Pampanga.

But Aquino corrected Mariano and said three workers were "confirmed" dead while 13 others were wounded, including three from the side of the authorities.

Agence


France-Presse reported that at least five people were hurt in the fighting but did not mention casualties.

It quoted militant Manila-based May 1st Labor Center as saying that troops and police were sent to dismantle the picket lines.

Riot police used water cannons, shields, and truncheons to disperse the demonstrators gathered at the plantation gates, the same report said.

At least two Army armored personnel carriers were seen guarding the farm, the Agence France-Presse report also said.

Witnesses quoted by the same report said security forces fired shots and tear gas while the rioting workers used clubs and slingshots.

Radio reports said one worker was seen bloodied with gunshot wounds to the back.

Mariano criticized the deployment of policemen and troops to stop the protesters.

"We condemn in the strongest possible terms the deployment of war machines and military personnel in Hacienda Luisita. It has totally shut down the doors for a peaceful resolution to the intensifying crisis in Hacienda," Mariano said in a statement later issued to the media.

Ocampo criticized local officials for allegedly failing to prevent the tragedy.

Aquino defended the action taken by authorities, saying they had exercised "maximum tolerance."

"We just want to uphold the law," Aquino said.

He welcomed a congressional investigation on the matter to "ferret out the truth."

Aquino was installed as president in 1986 after a largely bloodless "People Power" revolt fueled by anger about the assassination of her husband, opposition leader Benigno Aquino, by soldiers of then-dictator Ferdinand Marcos in August 1983.

She weathered seven coup attempts and ended her term in 1992.

Originally posted at 6:01 PM



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