'Save coconut levy funds'
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 03:41:00 10/06/2008
MANILA, Philippines - One of the administration’s most recent controversies involved some Court of Appeals justices as well as lawyer Camilo Sabio, chair of the Philippine Commission on Good Government (PCGG).
What worries me most are the reports quoting Press Secretary Jesus Dureza as saying that “Sabio would leave [for abroad] ... for a meeting on the coco levy issue.” (Inquirer, 9/13/08) What could possibly be in Paris that’s related to the coco levy? The board meeting of the United Coconut Planters International (UCPI), a trading company established with coco levy funds way back? This company is not at all central to the resolution of the issue.
Meddling with the courts seems to be nothing new to the PCGG chair.
In recent years, Sabio publicly claimed that the court decisions on the coco levy cases, which favored the government and the coconut farmers, were “mere skirmishes” and no victory at all. He then headed a nationwide campaign for an out-of-court settlement with businessman Eduardo “Danding” Cojuangco and Cocofed on the P50-billion CIIF-SMC case.
These moves prompted coconut farmer groups to intervene in some of the cases. The farmers can no longer rely on the government, specifically the PCGG, to recover what is due them, despite what the Sandiganbayan itself said in December 2004: “It is high time that the real beneficiaries of the coconut levy funds, the coconut farmers who contributed to it and the entire coconut industry, be given a chance to reap the benefits that are due them.”
Here we go again—another foundation to be funded by government! Part of the deal is an allocation of annual interest to Cocofed, a losing party in the CIIF-SMC case, and to whichever coconut farmer group is willing to make amends with Cojuangco. This puts very much in question how government plans to deliver the goods to the genuine farmers in more than 20,000 coconut-producing barangays in the country.
Forced to reckon with this administration until 2010, more vigilance is needed. Real industry stakeholders, especially the coconut farmers, should unite and push for coco levy recovery and genuine coconut industry development. Over 60 of our 80 provinces produce coconuts, among the country’s big dollar-earners. Ironically, the industry remains in peril and the majority of the coconut municipalities and barangays—those who genuinely should lay claim and benefit from the huge coco levies—are in dire poverty.
—JOEY T. FAUSTINO,
Coconut Industry Reform (COIR)
Movement Inc.
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