Coconut farmers are questioning some provisions of the Coconut Farmers and Industry Trust Fund Act (Coco Levy Act) such as the annual allocation of portions of the P100-billion coco levy fund to several government agencies, some of which have had no participation in coconut industry development at all.
In a press briefing, Joey Faustino, leader of the Coconut Industry Reform Movement, said coconut farmers are appealing to junk the Senate Bill (SB) 1396 or the Coco Levy Act in fear that they may totally lose the chance to benefit from the P100-billion coco levy fund, which came from the taxes imposed on coconut farmers by the Marcos administration and its cronies from 1972 to 1981.
As for the House version of the Coco Levy Act, which would also pave the way for the release of the coco levy fund, farmers are still hoping that their “voices will be heard” by congressmen in terms of the provisions that they want to be inserted and incorporated in the proposed law.
Faustino said some of the current provisions of the Coco Levy Act, which was already passed on the third and final reading in the Senate, are now causing anxiety among farmers.
One of these provisions is the annual allocations from the coco levy fund to several government agencies, which will “lock up the funds to several different bureaucracies that would further disenfranchise the coconut farmers,” the farmers’ groups said in a joint statement.
“The senators first decided to give several government agencies their share of the coco levy fund even before making a plan for the industry. What we would have wanted is for them to wait for the industry roadmap first, the roadmap that was created by the farmers,” said Rene Cerilla, policy leader of Pambansang Kilusan ng Samahan ng mga Magsasaka (PAKISAMA) and a farmer-leader from Lopez, Quezon.
Based on the farmers’ groups interpretation of SB 1396, the annual allocation of coco levy fund will be shared by the following agencies: Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) as the lead agency tasked to handle the fund; Department of Agriculture (DA); Department of Science and Technology (DOST); Department of Trade and Industry (DTI);Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA); Land Bank of the Philippines (LANDBANK); Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH); and Commission on Higher Education (CHED); among others.
Such interpretation follows the utilization of the trust fund based on the actual provisions of SB 1396, which includes the development of shared facilities, crop diversification, empowerment of coconut farmers’ organizations and cooperatives, provision of scholarship programs, creation of health and medical program for farmers, credit provision, infrastructure development, and training of farmers.
It is also consistent with how SB 1396 designed the composition of the PCA Board, which will be the decision-making body when it comes to the release of the coco levy fund.
According to SB 1396, the PCA Board will be composed of DA Secretary as Chairperson; Secretary of the Department of Finance (DOF) as Vice Chairperson; Secretary of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM); Secretary of the DOST; Secretary of DTI; and PCA Administrator.
Then only three members from the coconut farmers sector (one each from Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao) will be part of the board.
“While the policy declaration still names poor and marginalized coconut farmers and farm workers as a focus of development initiatives, the details show otherwise,” the farmers’ groups said.
Jhun Pascua of Pambansang Katipunan ng mga Makabayang Mambubukid (PKMM) said SB 1396 “should be reviewed” to make sure that coconut farmers and their children will directly benefit from the fund.
Otherwise, Faustino fears that the victims of coco levy fund scam will no longer get the “social justice” they’ve been fighting for many years, and that coconut farmers will remain poor.
“Based on that law, PCA will create the industry roadmap for coconut and we will just be consulted. That, when we should be part of the actual creation of the roadmap,” Faustino said.
“The program is sure to fail. This will not get us out of poverty,” he added.
Right now, Faustino said that coconut farmers’ groups are still hoping that Congressmen will still listen to them when it comes to the House version of the Coco Levy Act.
“It’s too late for Senate, but there’s still hope for Congress,” Faustino said, adding that he hopes that congressmen will recognize the need to put preferential treatment to small coconut farmers owning five hectares or less.
Just last week, the House of Representatives already approved on second reading House Bill No. 8136 or the Coconut Farmers and Industry Trust Fund Act.
Former PCA Administrator Romulo dela Rosa appealed for congressmen to listen to the plea of the coconut farmers.
“We should be able to save our coconut farmers from poverty,” said Dela Rosa at the briefing.