MANILA, Philippines ? Malacañang on Tuesday directed Agrarian Reform Secretary Nasser Pangandaman to resolve any pending land dispute at the Hacienda Luisita in Tarlac and appealed to the family of Sen. Benigno Aquino III, one of its owners, to cooperate with the department.

?We will direct the DAR (Department of Agrarian Reform) to act with dispatch on the disposition of this case,? Press Secretary Cerge Remonde said when asked to comment on farmers? hopes for the implementation of land reform in the sugar estate before President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo steps down in June 2010.

At the same time, Remonde appealed to the Aquino and Cojuangco families ?to fully cooperate? with the Department of Agrarian Reform ?in the immediate resolution of this case for the good of all concerned.?

The agrarian conflict was not on the agenda in the regular meeting of the executive committee of Jose Cojuangco & Sons Inc. (JCSI), the firm that manages the still disputed sugar estate, Tuesday.

Aquino, the Liberal Party?s presidential candidate in next year?s elections, did not have to attend the meeting because he is not a member of the executive committee, said Jose Romasanta, JSCI vice president for corporate affairs.

The senator is a grandson of the Cojuangco patriarch, Jose. The late former President Corazon Aquino, Noynoy?s mother, was a daughter of Jose.

But it was Aquino?s sister, Ballsy Aquino-Cruz, who sat in the executive committee as a representative of the Aquino family, said Romasanta.

JCSI is a Makati City-based managing arm of companies involved in agro-industrial businesses, real estate and development. Among its affiliates are HLI (Hacienda Luisita Inc.), Central Azucarera de Tarlac, Luisita Realty Corp., Luisita Golf and Country Club Inc., Tarlac Development Corp., Tarlac Distillery Inc. and Luisita Marketing Corp.

Massacre

Gary Olivar, President Macapagal-Arroyo?s economic spokesperson, said he would welcome any investigation of the so-called 2004 Luisita massacre if only to give Aquino a chance to address the issue.

?This gives him a chance to clear his name and avoid being a pirouette in the court of public opinion,? Olivar said, referring to the police dispersal of striking hacienda workers on Nov. 16, 2004, that resulted in the deaths of seven protesters and injuries to hundreds of others.

?For the same reason,? Olivar said, ?we say he should be judged for his own achievements and not because of his genetics, the same thing also applies if there are adverse things being brought up against him.?

?That?s only fair,? he added.

Olivar stressed that public personalities, including Aquino, should be given fair treatment, especially in the run-up to the May 2010 elections.

?This is even more important in the middle of the campaign seasons when passions tend to run high and regards for facts tends to become forgotten. All the more we should remember: Let?s stay with facts and let us not try people of the court of public opinion,? he said.

Pending in Supreme Court

The agrarian case was not discussed in the JCS meeting because it remained in the Supreme Court, Romasanta said.

In 2006, the high court issued a temporary restraining order that stopped the DAR from distributing 4,415 hectares in the 6,500-ha estate covering La Paz and Concepcion towns and Tarlac City.

?It?s unfortunate that this issue is being revived when it is already in the Supreme Court,? Romasanta said.

Lawyer Antonio Ligon, HLI spokesperson, said the meeting of HLI, the firm managing Hacienda Luisita, had been scheduled for Dec. 11. The farmers have four board seats in HLI.

Ligon, citing a report from JCS assistant corporate secretary, said the JCS executive committee discussed the ?usual agenda? concerning company matters.

?JCS is a different company from HLI. Noynoy has no board seat [in JCS] so he was not part of the meeting,? Ligon said.

?Somebody must be funding this,? he said, without identifying the possible financiers.

Aquino Tuesday dodged inquiries about his participation in the JCS meeting.

In a brief interview at the new GMA-7 Studio 7 building in Quezon City, the senator confirmed that he would attend the family meeting for ?a frank and honest discussion about probable plans.? He refused to elaborate.

On his way out of the building, Aquino told reporters that a solution to the Luisita issue ?will not to deprive workers of their livelihood.? With a report from Cathy Yamsuan