The congressional inquiry into the alleged overpriced purchase of road right-of-way in the Cojuangco family-owned Hacienda Luisita sugar land has political undertones, Quezon Rep. Danilo Suarez admitted Wednesday.

Suarez, chairman of the House Committee on Oversight that is hearing the issue, made the admission after Camarines Norte Rep. Liwayway Vinzons Chato noted that there seemed to be an attempt to single out the Cojuangcos in connection with the government’s right of way acquisitions for the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEx).

“Tama ‘yun may political overtones. There’s no debate on that. Pero ‘di maganda kung hindi natin bubuksan. Baka sabihin na may tinatago,” Suarez said.

Cavite Rep. Jesus Crispin Remulla earlier alleged that the Arroyo administration and the Cojuangcos agreed to an “overpriced” purchase of land from the 6,400-hectare Hacienda Luisita for the right-of-way for the SCTEx.

Also, Abakada-Guro Party-list Rep. Jonathan Dela Cruz said the government was cheated in millions of pesos when it paid Hacienda Luisita Inc. (HLI) R80 million for 83 hectares of land.

He said HLI was paid P100 per square meter in right-of-way claims despite that fact that the zonal value of the land in the areas was only P6 per square meter. Worse, Dela Cruz said the HLI management failed to give farmers their due in the P80-million acquisition cost.

But Chato said the Suarez committee might be going beyond the resolution filed by Pampanga Rep. Aurelio Gonzales Jr., which called for an investigation on the delay in the completion of SCTEx project and on the request of the Bases Conversion Development Authority (BCDA) for a R6-billion supplemental loan from the Japanese government to cover the financing shortfall of the project.

Chato also noted that the committee even invited Luisita farmworkers, who claimed they received only P208 to P328 as share from the proceeds of the sale and that they were not informed or consulted that portions of the SCTEx interchange will pass the sugar land.

She said the committee has no business dealing with the “internal conflict” between the Luisita management and the farm workers, who own more than 33 percent of 4,915 hectares they acquired through the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP).

“We are now dwelling more on how much was given to the farmers. This is getting political. Nobody is inquiring on the purchase of other lands. Why are we focusing on the Hacienda Luisita alone?” Chato said.

Chato said the issue regarding the claims of the farm workers must be referred to the proper committee, which is the House Committee on Agrarian Reform.

Suarez, however, said the Oversight Committee has jurisdiction over the matter because the money paid to HLI was public funds and that it is the duty of the panel to make sure these funds were properly disbursed.