PRESIDENT Aquino’s statement urging the Cojuangco side of the Hacienda Luisita owners to abide by the decision of the Supreme Court, which ruled on land distribution instead of the prevailing stock-option plan, can only mean that he means business in his oft-repeated “daang matuwid” refrain. Coming on the heels of an exchange of unpleasantness between the Supreme Court and Malacañang on the case of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, the public had anticipated a mouthful from the President against the Supreme Court.

He could have said, for instance, that the Supreme Court was just being vindictive when it issued its ruling on Hacienda Luisita after the Palace won the round against the High Court in the Arroyo case. And the public would have understood.

But the President, in a show of statesmanship, veered to the “daang matuwid,” instead, showing to all and sundry that he is not the President only of certain sectors of Philippine society  but of all of Filipinos.

In saying, too, that he presumed regularity in the decision and asked the hacienda’s owners to adhere to the court ruling, the President showed he could accept a ruling, which, while adverse to the interests of his kin, gave the farmer-tillers of the vast hacienda the ownership of the more than 5,000 hectares of land. As President, he could have used the vast powers of  his position in a subtle way to meddle in the issue and muddle it altogether. But no, he chose to act like the statesman I think he has become. And it becomes him, too.  We are sure, though, that having been part of the HLI, the President experienced a certain kind of sadness. As can be glimpsed from the pained statement of his youngest sister, Kris, who said the members of her family will survive the loss of the HLI as they survived the loss of their father. The presidency does not bestow superhuman qualities on people, after all. But it does give them a certain character that puts them several notches higher than us ordinary mortals. We hope the President will be guided by the same principle in other issues that could tear him between loyalty to friends and kin and the public in general. What the President stressed, though, after accepting at its face value the High Court’s 14-0 ruling, shows that he wants to see to it that there is fairness. For him, there should be just compensation for those holders of land who would be left landless. The economics student in him shows as he emphasized that the owners of capital need to have their money returned so that the engines of growth can continue humming.  When the owners of the hacienda are paid back their capital, then they can again engage in business that would redound to the common good.

The President spelled out the doctrine on fairness in agrarian reform which is anchored on the emancipation of the farmer-tillers by way of distribution of land. “Sa agrarian reform, ang hinahabol ay dalawang bagay: number one, i-empower mo ’yung magsasaka upang magkaroon siya ng sariling lupang sasakahin. Okay ’yung parteng iyon,” he was quoted as saying in a press briefing during the First National Media Conference on Climate Change in Legaspi, Albay, right after the SC decision was outed.

“Ang pangalawang bagay ay: ’wag natin ubusin ang capital. Ibig sabihin, meron ding just compensation para naman yung dating nagmamay-ari ng lupa ay hindi mo inaagawan ng lupa, bayaran mo ng tama,” the President said. In stressing that the capital that will be returned to the landowner could be used by the latter to invest in other endeavors, the President let out his knowledge of economics.

“’Yung kanyang kapital na naibalik sa kanya, pwedeng maging mapuhunan na makatutulong sa pagtatag ng negosyong makapagbigay ng hanapbuhay sa ating bansa,” Aquino said. “Sana ma-meet ’yung two objectives. Hindi dapat ’yung may pinapaboran na isang sektor at isasakripisyo ang isa.  Kailangan sabay-sabay ang lahat ng sector,” he noted.

The issue of the Hacienda Luisita has long dogged President Aquino, especially when he was still campaigning for the office. There were brickbats thrown his way ascribing to ill motives on the matter of the pricing of the hacienda land that were purchased by the government by way of carving out a roadway for the Subic-Clark Expressway.

It was the issue of valuation on the land that rocked the campaign then since his opponents were saying that he benefited from the skewed pricing for the hacienda lot. Opponents said that the said expropriated land should have cost just P30 or below and not the amount of P90 per square meter that was paid.

However, a Development Bank of the Philippines estimate of fair market value put the lot at P100 per square meter which is actually higher than the transacted amount.

On winning the presidency, P-Noy divested himself of 1 percent of the HLI shares which just goes to show that all he wants is fairness and good governance which after all form part of his daang matuwid concept. With his admonition to the Cojuangcos to abide by the SC decision, he showed the statesman that he is.

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