Farmers to SC: Don’t allow Luisita execs to pick auditors

MANILA, Philippines – The Alyansa ng Manggagawa Asyenda Luisita (AMBALA) rallied in front of the Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday, June 11, to ask that the Cojuangco-owned company managing Hacienda Luisita not be allowed to choose which accounting firm will audit the P1.3 billion to be distributed to the original farmworker-beneficiaries (FBWs) of the sugar estate. 

The P1.3 billion represents proceeds from two transactions that Hacienda Luisita Inc (HLI) made over the years that lessened made smaller the land that would be distributed to the farm workers – the sale of 500 hectares of land, and the appropriation of 80.51 hectares for the SCTEX project. The farm workers are then entitled to shares from these proceeds.

Hacienda Luisita belongs to the family of President Benigno Cojuangco Aquino III. The Cojuangco clan, since the presidency of her mother Corazon, has successfully dodged government efforts to place the estate under the agrarian reform program. President Aquino divested his shares in the estate in 2010.

The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) on May 27 asked the SC to clarify 4 issues relative to the auditing of P1.3-billion proceeds. These are: 

• the meaning of the phrase “approved by the parties”;
• the identification of the parties who should approve the selection of the accounting firm;
• the role of DAR in the audit process;
• the nature and extent of the auditing period.

The SC issued the order to conduct an audit of the HLI books on November 22, 2011. It ordered the DAR “to engage the services of a reputable accounting firm to be approved by the parties to audit the books of HLI to determine if the proceeds of the sale of the 500-hectare land and the 80.51-hectare SCTEX lot were actually used for legitimate corporate purposes.”

On Tuesday, the farmworkers, through their counsel Atty Jobert Pahilga, were supposed to file a comment on the DAR motion. The SC, however, was not accepting any transactions because it was celebrating its 112^th anniversary. Pahiliga said they would just file their motion to comment on Thursday this week or Tuesday next week. 

“The farmworkers already picked an auditing firm to conduct the audit, but it was opposed by the HLI and because of this, DAR did not approve the selection of the farmworkers,” Pahilga said.

AMBALA’s motion also asked the SC to direct the DAR to “fully implement” the court’s November 22, 2011, decision.

The decision also mandated the DAR to distribute the remaining 4,335 hectares of the estate to the farmworkers.

Pahilga said that on April 12, all the parties, including the HLI, agreed on the eligibility criteria for the auditing firm that will conduct the audit.

On May 17, the parties also voted on what firm would conduct the audit. AMBALA, United Luisita Workers Union (ULWU), FARM, Noel Mallari, and the Supervisory Group – except HLI – voted for Ocampo Mendoza Lim and Leung to conduct the audit.

But DAR did not approve the choice of the farmworkers because of HLI’s opposition, AMBALA said.

DAR protecting with Luisita?  

AMBALA also claimed that DAR should not assert “unanimity” in the choice of the accounting firm as the farmworkers organization have already made a choice.

On the issue of who should approve the selection of the auditing firm, AMBALA said it should be the farmworkers who should select, as “it is in their behalf that the audit is being conducted.”

“HLI being the party to be audited is deprived of the right to select or choose the auditing firm that will conduct the audit of its own books. This is to maintain the independence of the accounting firm and regularity of the accounting process,” AMBALA said.

AMBALA warned Chief Justice Ma Lourdes Sereno that they have been “guarding” her moves since she dissented to the high court’s November 2011 decision. Sereno was the sole magistrate who wanted the management to receive compensation “which shall be based on their fair market value as of 02 January 2006, to be determined by the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR).”

President Aquino appointed Sereno on August 24, 2012.

On April 24, 2013, the SC, through a 14-0 vote reiterated its November 22, 2011, ruling ordered the total distribution of Hacienda Lusita to the farmer-beneficiaries. – Rappler.com