Business NEWS

The Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) is not yet finished drafting the Coconut Farmers and Industry Development Plan (CFIDP), which will serve as the government’s ultimate guide in the distribution of the P100-billion coco levy fund and assets.

The implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of some sections of the Republic Act (RA) No. 11524 or an Act Creating the Coconut Farmers and Industry Trust Fund (CFITF) are now in effect.

The Department of Finance (DOF) said the government has set up a registry that will monitor the status of the assets acquired using the multibillion-peso coconut levy fund.

The mass registration of coconut farmers who will benefit from the forthcoming release of the P100-billion coco levy fund will be a continuous process.

Senators have pressed the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) to extend its deadline and streamline the processes for the registration of coconut farmers.

Groups of coconut farmers fear another scam might happen in the process of the Philippine government’s implementation of the Coco Levy Act, the law that should pave the way for the release of the P100 billion worth of funds and assets collected through the infamous coco levy fund scam more than 40 years ago.

Less than two weeks before the deadline of mass registration of coconut farmers, the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA), the lead agency tasked to implement the Coconut Farmers and Industry Trust Fund Act or Coco Levy Act, is now 41 percent complete in the validation of the National Coconut Farmers Registry System (NCFRS).

Farmers want representation in the Coco Levy’s Trust Fund Management Committee, which is the legally mandated committee tasked to decide on the disposition of the P100-billion worth of coco levy fund and assets.

The Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) already started the mass registration of coconut farmers to update the National Coconut Farmers Registry System (NCFRS), which, once completed, will serve as the government’s master list of beneficiaries for the P100-billion coco levy fund.  

Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) Administrator Benjamin Madrigal assured that the farmers’ representatives that will join the reconstituted PCA Board will be selected solely by farmers without the influence of the government.  

Nearly three weeks since the Coco Levy Act or Republic Act (RA) 11524 was passed, the reconstituted board of the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) has met for the first time to discuss the important things that need to be addressed prior to the actual release of the P100-billion coco levy fund.   

The Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) will request an additional budget from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to fulfill some of its deliverables under the Coco Levy Act or Republic Act (RA) 11524, including the task of providing health and medical protection to coconut farmers.

Only representatives from three government agencies – Department of Finance (DOF), Department of Budget and Management (DBM), and Department of Justice (DOJ) – will have the final say on how the Coconut Farmers and Industry Trust Fund (CFITF) will be managed and use.

The proposed Coconut Farmers and Industry Trust Fund Act or Coco Levy Act, which will pave the way for the release and the utilization of the P100-billion coco levy fund, will lapse into law next week.

The proposed Coconut Farmers and Industry Trust Fund Act or Coco Levy Act, which will pave the way for the release of the P100-billion coco levy fund, is just awaiting the signature of President Rodrigo Duterte.

Coconut farmers are coming up with a position paper that will formally ask President Rodrigo Duterte to veto Coconut Farmers and Industry Trust Fund or the Coco Levy Act, which will pave the way for the release of the P100-billion Coco Levy Fund.

On the anticipated release of the P100-billion coco levy fund, another veto is coconut farmers’ last hope after the House version of Coconut Farmers and Industry Trust Fund (Coco Levy Act) was passed on third and final reading and turned out to be “worse than the Senate version of the law”.  

           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.