Poe denies being Danding's puppet on coco levy issue

Senator Grace Poe said she is not a puppet of her political supporters including influential businessman Eduardo "Danding" Cojuangco Jr.

The question about Cojuangco, the chairman of San Miguel Corporation (SMC), was raised during the second leg of the PiliPinas Debates 2016 in Cebu on Sunday.

During the debate, television host Lourd de Veyra said Poe's rival, Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, had called Poe a puppet of Cojuangco, the founder of the Nationalist People's Coalition (NPC) which has endorsed Poe's candidacy in the May 2016 polls.

Poe responded, "Hindi po si Mayor Duterte ang nagsabi na ako ay puppet kung hindi isang miyembro ng kanyang campaign."

Poe noted that coco levy funds worth P70 billion are no longer with Cojuangco, saying that they were already with the government.

"Ang pera na ito ay wala na kay Danding Cojuangco at kung nasa kaniya pa man, ako ay magiging patas," Poe said.

In June 2015, the Supreme Court stopped the implementation of two executive orders — EO 179 and EO 180 — issued by Aquino covering the fund.

The motion for the temporary restraining orders were filed by the Confederation of Coconut Farmers Organization.

Law needed

Poe said the SC ordered the passage of a law for the use of the funds instead of mere executive orders. The bill to use the funds, which has been pending in the Senate, has been identified as a priority measure by the administration.

Former interior secretary Mar Roxas tried to pin the blame on Poe for the non-passage of the measure.

But Poe noted that Senate President Franklin Drilon, a partymate of Roxas, did not calendar the measure in the Senate. —Veronica Pulumbarit/JST, GMA News