Sandigan to rule soon on coco funds

There may be another windfall on the way for small coconut farmers — the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) expects the Sandiganbayan to decide on the pending coco levy cases soon.

PCGG Commissioner Victoria Avena said yesterday that they are confident they will get a favorable decision from the anti-graft court, and the primary beneficiaries would be the farmers.

"We expect the Sandiganbayan to issue a ruling soon. It will come out soon," she told The STAR in a telephone interview.

On Dec. 14, 2001, the Supreme Court (SC) declared as public the P130 billion coco levy fund, resolving a 15-year legal battle about its ownership.

The SC then gave the Sandiganbayan six months – up to June 2002 – to resolve the pending coco levy cases. This deadline was extended to December last year upon the request of the anti-graft court.

The Supreme Court ruled that the PCGG-sequestered shares at the United Coconut Planters Bank (UCPB) were "indisputably acquired with coco levy funds, which are public in character."

The coco levy fund was forcibly collected from small coconut farmers in the form of taxes from 1973 to 1982. This levy, now known as the Coconut Industry Investment Fund (CIIF), has ballooned to P130 billion from P9 billion when it was last collected.

The fund was used by the Marcos family and their cronies to acquire or create companies including UCPB, Philippine Coconut Producers Federation Inc., Cocofed Marketing Corp., Cocofed Life Insurance Corp., and United Coconut Oil Mills Inc.

Avena said that the SC ruling had strengthened the PCGG’s stand that the real owners of the coco levy fund are the coconut farmers.

Last Saturday, President Arroyo announced that some P77 million from the CIIF will be released today to help some 1.6 million coconut farmers.

The President said the fund will be used in the government’s micro-financing program for coconut farmers, at P1,000 per coconut farmer.

Avena said the P700 million will come from the proceeds of UCPB’s investment into coco oil mills.

She added that even though the coco levy cases are still pending in court, the proceeds can be utilized in programs to benefit the farmers.

"It can be done because it has the approval of all litigants in the case... The fund will be used for micro-financing and to increase the farmer’s insurance coverage," Avena said.

To help the small coconut farmers and their families, the government has already tapped government financial institutions for assistance.

In late November last year, the Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) made P210 million available to Quedancor, farmers’ cooperatives and small coconut farmers’ organizations, which will serve as loan conduits to qualified individual small coconut farmers.

Under the program, small coconut farmers can avail themselves of a loan averaging P10,000 each within the next six months.

The LBP also made available last year some P90 million to accredited coconut farmers’ cooperatives that will serve as credit conduits to oil mills and other coconut processors.

The President has also directed newly installed Agrarian Reform Secretary Roberto Pagdanganan to distribute some 100,000 hectares of agricultural land to landless farmers all over the country before her term ends on June 30 next year.

She has urged the two chambers of Congress to speed up the passage of a proposed measure which would allow farmers to use their agricultural lands as collateral for loans from banks and other lending institutions.

Health Secretary Manuel Dayrit was also ordered by the Chief Executive to purchase more medicines so that the thousands of urban poor in the country would have access to affordable medicines.

The President disclosed that part of her priority programs in her remaining 17 months in office is the creation of one million jobs in the provinces.