Responding to President Marcos' call that the law must be improved to meet the real needs of coconut farmers, Albay 3rd district Rep. Raymond Adrian Salceda has filed a bill seeking to amend the Coconut Farmers and Industry Trust Fund Act.

Embodied in House Bill (HB) No.2336, Salceda's bill is the first coco levy fund law amendment bill filed in the current 20th Congress.

The President first raised the issue publicly on July 4 during a visit to General Santos City, and reiterated it during his July 28 State of the Nation Address (SONA), where he emphasized the urgency of reform and the need to accelerate replanting efforts nationwide.

“Tama po si Presidente na may problema sa paggamit (The President is correct in saying there's a problem with usage). It takes too long under the current arrangement, and it seems it's by design,” Salceda said. “We’re simply trying to respond to that by making sure the fund moves toward the farmers faster and more directly.”

HB No. 2336 empowers the Trust Fund Management Committee to reallocate unspent shares from implementing agencies that fail to submit or carry out programs, and redirect those funds to other agencies already identified under the law with qualified but underfunded proposals. It also mandates a strategic share of the fund for coconut planting, seedling propagation, nursery development, and export-oriented coconut enterprises.

“The President’s target is 100 million new coconut trees by 2028. That’s a very ambitious but doable number. But we need the funds to make it happen,” Salceda added.

He also pointed out that disbursements have been slow, not because of lack of funds, but because of the way the current law is structured.

“Pagkatagal-tagal po itong ipinaglaban ng mga magsasaka. Nagawan na po ng batas. Pero, napakatagal po ng disbursement kasi masyadong pinarte-parte ang allocation. Hindi naman lahat ng agency, nagsusubmit ng proposal, bilang hindi rin nila core functions. Wala ring naging dagdag na project management offices sa mga ahensya,” Salceda said.

(Farmers fought for this for a very long time. A law has already been passed. But the disbursement has been severely delayed because the allocation was overly fragmented. Not all agencies submit proposals, since it’s not part of their core functions. No additional project management offices were created within the agencies either.)

The bill also clarifies that the Trust Fund Management Committee has the authority to issue the implementing rules and strengthens the role of coconut farmers and local governments in identifying and monitoring programs.

Salceda urged Congress to act quickly. “The direction is clear. The executive is ready. The farmers are waiting. Let’s do our part.”