MANILA, Philippines?After more than half a century of owning Hacienda Luisita, the Cojuangco-Aquino family may eventually have to ?leave? its vast sugar estate in Central Luzon because of the continuing labor troubles that plague it, Senator Benigno Aquino III said Saturday.

Aquino, the standard-bearer of the Liberal Party in the 2010 elections, said his family had incurred a large debt as a result of the labor disputes, and that he expected these troubles to continue if it does not relinquish control of the 6,400-hectare estate.

The senator spoke with reporters as he concluded a visit to a slum area on Araneta Avenue Extension in Quezon City shortly before noon. He also visited the Baseco compound in Manila later in the day.

?As of now, for me personally, if my family finds it hard to stay there as before, then maybe my family should leave,? Aquino said.

?And once my family leaves, I would really be free and no one can say, even by a bit, that I have a vested interest,? he said, adding that he would soon make a ?specific? statement on the matter.

Leftist activists have criticized the Cojuangco-Aquino family for not putting Luisita under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program, the ?centerpiece program? of then President Corazon Aquino, the senator?s mother.

The activists have been calling on the senator, now that he had declared his intention to run for president, to state his position on land reform in view of the continuing labor problem in Luisita.

In 2004, a violent dispersal of striking farmers left 14 dead, according to reports.

Financial difficulties

Aquino said the striking farmers had now asked that they be allowed to return to work.

?[But] my family is somewhat beginning to think, ?Our debt has grown so large. Can we still finance it? Maybe somebody might be able to run it better for the benefit of the constituents,?? he said.

The senator said he had never run Luisita, and that when he was working for it, ?it was outside the hacienda; I talked to the outside planters.?

He said it was not just the financial difficulties of trying to revive the troubled estate that had led his family to consider letting it go.

?You also need further necessary investments. And while we?re there, some forces will always be toying with us even though most of them are not [locals],? Aquino said.

?When we are involved, this is always included in politics ? so it diminishes their hope of ... turning this back from a sunset industry into a sunrise industry,? he said.

Aquino said the potential for the estate for biofuels like ethanol was ?substantial.?

?But if I?m there, then they will again say these things. So how will I be able to help my countrymen?? he said.

1/32 share

The senator said that among his cousins, his portion of Luisita was just 1/32, and that his father, the assassinated Benigno ?Ninoy? Aquino Jr., gave away his own share of land when he was a town mayor.

?I think [the share] of my mom, the conjugal property, was also included. That is why agrarian reform was her centerpiece program,? Aquino said.

Activists, however, point out that Luisita was put under the stock distribution option (SDO) during President Aquino?s administration. Instead of owning a piece of land, the farmers got stocks.

In 2005, the Presidential Agrarian Reform Council (PARC), the highest policymaking body on agrarian reform, voted to revoke Luisita?s SDO.

The move was then seen as Malacañang?s reprisal against the former President for joining calls for the resignation of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

The PARC decision is now on appeal at the Supreme Court.

Aquino said his family acquired Luisita in 1957 because ?the people asked for us.?

?The only reason we got [into Luisita] to begin with was the people asked for us, or we were acceptable to them. There was a labor problem sometime in the 1950s, when I wasn?t still around,? he said.

?I?m smiling?

In visiting the squatters colony in Quezon City, Aquino said he had been apprised of some survey results that he was doing very well even among the D and E classes.

He said some surveys were conducted nationwide and others in specific areas, ?and largely they are agreeing with each other.?

?I?m not going to blow my own horn, [but] I?m smiling and my allies and supporters will also have big smiles,? he said.

Aquino said the surveys were not sponsored by the LP, and that one even ?came from the enemy.?

He said the ?independent groups? that sponsored the surveys would soon release the results.

He denied that his trips to slum areas were meant to poach on the traditional bailiwick of deposed President Joseph Estrada.

?This has been one of my constant advocacies. [The urban poor] has been an ongoing concern,? he said.

Aquino said he was not giving up on holding unity talks with Estrada, who had expressed intent to run for reelection in 2010.

He also said there had been initial talks with members of the Rebolusyunaryong Alyansang Makabansa (RAM), which mounted coup attempts against his mother?s administration, and a major political party that was once the biggest in the country.

?[Talks with Estrada are] not out of the picture. If I?m ready to talk with the group that launched coups against my mother, I think I will even be readier to talk with President Estrada,? he said.

He declined to name the ?major political party,? especially when asked if it was the group of former Speaker Jose de Venecia.

Aquino said he had no problem running against his ?friend,? Senator .Francis ?Chiz? Escudero, and his cousin, Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro.

?From the time of the [failed] impeachment attempt [against Ms Arroyo], I have really been friends with Senator Escudero. We had the same position on most issues. Maybe we might reach a new level of politics. Maybe we won?t end up mudslinging,? he said.

Aquino said that while he differed with Teodoro on many issues while they were serving as Tarlac congressmen, these disagreements did not become personal and the defense secretary even helped him solve certain problems in their province. With a report from Tina G. Santos