The call not to allow the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) to handle the P100-billion coconut levy fund is growing. There’s also a call to use the funds only for the benefit of small coconut farmers. In a statement, Kalipunan ng mga Maliliit na Magniniyog sa Pilipinas (KAMMPIL) appealed for the lawmakers to “strengthen” the law that will pave the way for the long delayed release of coco levy fund, the tax collected from coconut farmers from 1972 to 1982 by the administration of former President Ferdinand Marcos. The billions of money collected from what is now called the Coco Levy Scam was used by the government to build several coco oil mills, acquire United Coconut Planters Bank (UCPB), and buy assets from San Miguel Corp. “For the small coconut farmers to benefit from coco levy and to avoid the fund being wasted, KAMMPIL is pushing for the creation of a perpetual trust fund that will be handled by a Trust Fund Committee under the Office of the President, not under the PCA,” KAMMPIL, whose members include former PCA Administrator Romulo dela Rosa, said in a statement. According to the group, the regular programs of PCA like planting and modernization should be funded by the agency’s General Appropriations Act (GAA). KAMMPIL also said that small coconut farmers will be well represented in the Trust Fund Committee. As for the use of coco levy funds, KAMMPIL has two proposals, which is to use the fund for the social protection of small farmers and to bankroll enterprises that will be handled by a group of small coconut farmers. For the first category, the group said social protection for farmers could come in the form of scholarship for the children of coconut farmers as well as health insurance for them. They also proposed the provision of financing for household-based on-farm and off-farm livelihood projects such as intercropping at livestock. The funds, for the second category of use, should then be used to build enterprises and facilities that will be operated by small farmers’ cooperatives so they can manufacture their own coconut by-products such as virgin coconut oil, coconut sugar, and coconut water. This will also help small farmers get the chance to venture into the downstream industry for coconut, such as the processing of coco-methyl ester (CME) or coco-diesel. Last week, Agriculture Secretary William Dar called for strong support on the enactment of Coco Levy Act. He was referring to Senate Bill (SB) 1396, or the “Coconut Farmers and Industry Trust Fund Act”, recently re-filed by Senator Cynthia Villar, chairperson of the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Food (CAF). “It is ironic that while we are the world’s second-largest producer and number one exporter of coconut products in 2018, our coconut sector contributed a measly four percent to our gross value-added in agriculture in 2019,” said Dar. SB 1396 is a consolidation of the bills filed by Senators Villar, Francis Pangilinan, Ralph Recto, and Imee Marcos. Among the major points in SB 1396 include the implementation of the Coconut Farmers and Industry Development Plan (CFIDP) now being drafted by the PCA. The CFIDP proposes that the trust fund would have a lifespan of 99 years, and should bankroll different components including shared facilities program; farm improvement; empowerment of coconut farmer’s organizations and cooperatives; scholarship program; health and medical program; credit support; and development of hybrid coconut seed farms and nurseries. “Now, more than ever, we must unleash the vast economic potentials of our coconut industry. And we need to continuously empower coconut farmers towards resilience and prosperity,” Dar said. “This is the legacy that the Duterte administration wishes to bequeath to succeeding generations of Filipinos — a modern, industrialized and globally-competitive Philippine coconut industry,” he added. The House version of Coco Levy Act has not been finalized too. To date, the House of Representatives, through its respective CAF, is yet to approve a substitute bill that consolidates 17 previous measures to establish a coconut farmers and industry trust fund. The committee is chaired by Representative Wilfrido Mark Enverga.