Windfall for Business, ‘Not Much’ for Poor Filipinos
Windfall for Business, ‘Not Much’ for Poor Filipinos
AQUINO’S STATE OF THE NATION ADDRESS
By MARYA SALAMAT
MANILA – They did not really expect much but when Benigno Aquino III ran true to form and, in his first State of the Nation Address, “remained true to his class as a big modern landlord,” progressive Filipinos still felt “dismayed.”
“We did not really expect him to talk about land reform,” said Greg Ratin, 45, a farmer from Negros Occidental. Yet, Ratin was still disappointed to say that “we have nothing to gain from his presidency.” Their livelihood, he said, is in danger despite the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) because a lot of lands under CARP coverage are subject to land-use conversion. In Hacienda Luisita, the sugar plantation in Tarlac owned by Aquino’s family, more military troops have been deployed and are patrolling the area in full battle gear.
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