A bill seeking to decriminalize qualified theft of coconuts and reclassifying it as “simple theft” has been filed in the Senate.

Sen. Risa Hontiveros, in filing Senate Bill No. 1871, said there is a need to decriminalize qualified theft under Article 310 of the Revised Penal Code to simple theft in order to reduce the amount of bail and penalty that small-scale farmers, tenants and farm workers who may be accused of such offense.

Hontiveros noted that many of the coconut farmers, especially small-scale farmers, farm workers and tenants who mainly rely on coconut farming as their main source of livelihood, face challenges, such as lack of government support, low farm productivity, lack of capital and infrastructure, lack of access to credit sources, recurring infestations of a pest called “cocolisap,” climate change related risks, and other hazards.

The senator also said coconut farmers are also considered among the poorest in the country, accounting for about 60 percent of the rural poor and have an average annual income of P20,000 per hectare.

Citing a study from the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA), most of the 2.5 million coconut farmers in the country earn less than P10,000 per year and those who fall in this income range are mostly farm workers and tenants.

Hontiveros noted that the prevailing wage rate in the coconut farm sector is only P338.71 per day in 2019 and this has driven some farm workers and tenants to steal coconut on the lands that they work under the impluse of hunger, poverty or the difficulty of earning a livelihood to support themselves and their family.

But the high penalty for qualified theft—which is two degrees higher than simple theft under Article 308, only adds to the difficulties faced by the farmers. This has discouraged them from pursuing their livelihood, which further contributes to the industry's decline.

“These farmers are often subjected to high bail amounts for their temporary liberty, which further puts them on a significant financial strain,” Hontiveros said in the explanatory note of the bill.

“The penalty is deemed too harsh, especially for small-scale coconut farmers, tenants, and farm workers who rely on the sale of coconuts as their main source of income and who have only acted under desperation and impulse of hunger and poverty,” she pointed out.

“By decriminalizing qualified theft of coconuts under Article 310 of the Revised Penal Code, as amended, and reclassifying it as simple theft under Article 308, the penalty and the bail amount would be significantly reduced,” she further said.

“This would provide a relief to small-scale farmers, tenants, and farm workers, and reduce the burden on those who may be accused of this offense,” the senator stressed.