MANILA, Philippines — Senator Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III on Monday said he was unaware of an October 30 deadline for protesting farmers at the family-owned Hacienda Luisita to vacate the land they are tilling.

“Since we are already in November, obviously the information is incorrect. Please contact the company directly as they would have the pertinent data,” Aquino said.

He said that his lawyers were still checking how much of Hacienda Luisita his “part” of the Cojuangco clan actually owned. Aquino had earlier said that the Cojuangcos might have to sell the vast sugar plantation due to financial and labor troubles.

“I’m trying to help those who are jobless find work. The place used to be a no-man’s land but normalcy is now slowly coming back despite the absence of jobs,” Aquino said.

Lawyer Tony Ligon, spokesman for the hacienda, denied that the estate had set a deadline or given notices of eviction to the farmers.

“How can you set an eviction notice when you need a court order to do that, even for squatters? And you can’t move in this case because it is still in the Supreme Court,” Ligon said in an interview.

He said that what the estate management actually did was to urge all the farmers in the hacienda to register.

“We did this after receiving complaints from farmer beneficiaries that some of the tillers were only renting their land and only a few were benefiting from this,” Ligon said.

He said the initial deadline was October 30 but this was moved to November 15 so that everyone could register.