Philippines: Coco Farmers Score Attempted Diversion of Levy Funds

Small coconut farmers today lambasted President Gloria Arroyo’s pronouncement that the coco levy funds could be used to finance the administration’s proposed diesel coupon scheme.

Jun Adorable of the Alyansa ng mga Maglulubi sa Mindanaw (AM-Mindanaw) and the Mindanao Rural Congress (MRC) decried that, “President Gloria Arroyo talks as if she owns the coco levy funds and could use it in any manner she pleases. At the very least, Arroyo should have the decency of first consulting the real owners of the coco levy. Perhaps she has forgotten that the Supreme Court has ruled that coco levy funds are owned by the coconut farmers.”
Adorable also noted that, “This proposed diesel coupon subsidy scheme looks like it was conceived to prop-up the Arroyo regime’s eroding credibility since they are promoting it as a pro-poor program. They do not seem to realize that by siphoning funds from the coconut levy, they would be stealing from the poor coconut farmers.”
Meanwhile, Multi-Sectoral Task Force on the Coconut Levy (MSTF) Chair Wigberto Tañada reiterated that, “The laws and decrees on the coconut levy categorically state that the coco levy funds are trust funds for the exclusive use of the coconut farmers and for the development of the coconut industry. In particular, it should only be used for farm production, marketing, credit support, processing, replanting and researches related to the development of the coconut industry and for the benefit of the small coconut farmers. The Arroyo administration would be violating several decrees and laws if it would pursue the diversion of funds from the coconut levy to its proposed diesel coupon program.”

According to Omi Royandoyan of Centro Saka, there was a similar attempt to divert the coco levy fund last year when Finance Secretary Margarito B. Teves stated that the coco levy funds could be used to offset the budget deficit. MSTF Chair Tañada agreed and said that, “back then, the counter argument from the coconut farmers’ ranks was the same—i.e. the coco levy fund belongs to the coconut farmers and should only be used for coconut industry-related concerns.”

“Instead of thinking of ways to divert funds from the coconut levy, the Arroyo administration should pursue its full recovery. It should also desist from brokering a compromise agreement over the coco levy assets with Eduardo “Danding” Cojuangco,” suggested Joey Faustino of the Coconut Industry Reform Movement (COIR).

Ka Oca Santos of the MSTF commented that, “If the Arroyo administration wants to regain the confidence of the people, it would be better off devising a scheme that would tax the well-off rather than the have-nots and to implement real pro-poor and sustainable development programs for the benefit of the coconut farmers in the 80,000 coconut-producing barangays.” ###

For further information, please contact Miguel Musngi at 9287464 or 9266607 or 0927-6482681.
For other references you may contact Mr. Jun Adorable at 0919-5112548, Ka Oscar Santos 8797769.

Centro Saka is the Secretariat to the Multi-Sectoral TAsk Force on the Coco levy Recovery or MSTF.

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