DAVAO CITY, Philippine?Senator Benigno ?Noynoy? Aquino III on Friday said that the problem hounding Hacienda Luisita was not that simple and could not be resolved easily even if he becomes president.

Because Luisita is a private corporation, the presidential candidate said that the government could not dip its hand into the issue.

"This is a private corporation. There are stockholders and among them are the farmer-beneficiaries," he said.

Even if he becomes president, Aquino said the government can only do so much as far as the controversy is concerned.

"Maybe I can sponsor a dialogue. But at the end of the day, [a solution to the problem] cannot be dictated upon by any government officer," he said.

Aquino, who is running under the Liberal Party, said that his family has been trying to resolve the land dispute, to no avail.

"We want to transfer the land, however there are several methods to do so," he told reporters during a breakfast press conference here.

Aquino said the voluntary offer to sell scheme might appear the easiest way to resolve the land dispute, but in reality, it would still be a problem.

Aquino said there are more than 10,000 farmers claiming a part of the land but the estate consists of only 4,100 hectares.

He said transferring all the land to a huge number of claimants poses a problem because "obviously you won't be able to give one hectare to each of them."

Aquino said his family has no intention of prolonging the issue contrary to the claims of some quarters.

He did not say who has been accusing his family of prolonging the issue but rival presidential candidate Manuel Villar's camp has been using the Hacienda Luisita controversy, along with the construction of a highway and interchange through the estate, as an issue against Aquino.

"The bottom line is what we are trying to do is transfer the assets to them," Aquino said.

Aquino had said that 33 members of the Cojuangco family are co-owners of the estate.

The land and company were established by his grandfather and grandmother and investors, but the bulk is owned by the family, Aquino earlier said.

Hacienda Luisita then was divided by the Cojuangco patriarch to his six children, including the late president Corazon Aquino. From there, the land was co-owned by Senator Aquino and his sisters and cousins.

Senator Aquino owns 1.1 percent of Tarlac Development Corp. (TDC) shares, while his family controls only 4.3 percent, according to lawyer Antonio Ligon, HLI spokesperson.

Aquino said he and four sisters got their shares from their mother but reminded that she divested her share when the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program was launched in her administration.