(Eagle News)–President Rodrigo Duterte on Friday, Aug. 2, questioned former President Cory Aquino’s agrarian reform program.
In a speech before land reform beneficiaries in Davao City, Duterte noted that while Aquino “declared land reform” across the entire Philippines, she “exempted” her maternal family’s Hacienda Luisita in Tarlac from coverage.
A Comprehensive Agrarian Reform law had been passed in 1988, two years into Aquino’s term.
“So you call her what, the one who freed, emancipated? It’s an incongruity,” Duterte said.
In 2011, the Supreme Court ruled more than 4,300 hectares of land should be given to farmer-beneficiaries.
Prior to this, the Hacienda Luisita had distributed stocks to farmers under an agreement.
In his speech, Duterte also noted that while Aquino was “popular” today, her claim to fame was when her husband, Ninoy, died during Marcos’ administration.
The female Aquino succumbed to colon cancer in 2009.
