Noynoy in hacienda to defuse Luisita flap By Aytch S. de la Cruz 08/15/2010

PALACE SAYS AQUINO TO SEEK INFO NOT TO INTERVENE Noynoy in hacienda to defuse Luisita flap By Aytch S. de la Cruz 08/15/2010 President Aquino has been in the Hacienda Luisita estate in Tarlac since early morning yesterday in what many believe as a fireman mission to douse what is turning out to be the first big crisis that his nascent administration is facing, which is the allegations of bribery by members of his landed family on farm workers to silence them on their demand for land distribution.  Aquino, who is officially on vacation in the vast sugar estate, is expected to speak with his relatives who own the biggest share of assets in the Hacienda Luisita Inc. (HLI) in relation to the controversial compromise agreement they signed with the HLI farm beneficiaries who are queueing for doleouts lately and whose situation he also plans to check but these will be done “not on a formal basis,” according to his spokesman, Edwin Lacierda. Lacierda sent these broad hints in response to queries sent by the Tribune yesterday on whether the President has these particular agenda in his mind when he decided to spend his Saturday at the Hacienda Luisita farmlands in Tarlac province. Col. Ramon Dizon, chief of the Presidential Security Guard (PSG), confirmed in a phone interview that Aquino was at Luisita yesterday but only to take a vacation there, saying that his visit is not in any way related to the issues that hound the HLI lately. Lacierda echoed this information shared by Dizon, saying that “the President is careful in treading the fine line of being informed and meddling,” especially since the compromise agreement issue is now being handled by the Supreme Court (SC)..... MORE Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20100815hed1.html

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