Implementing rules of coco levy law takes effect —DOF

The implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of the Republic Act (RA) No. 11524 or the Coconut Farmers and Industry Trust Fund Act is now in effect, the Department of Finance (DOF) said Thursday.

The IRR took effect 15 working days after it was published in a newspaper of general circulation last June 10.

The RA No. 11524, signed into law by President Rodrigo Duterte in February, mandated the Philippine Coconut Authority to craft and submit the Coconut Farmers and Industry Development Plan (CFIDP) to the President for his approval.

The law also created the Trust Fund Management Committee (TFMC), composed of Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez, Budget Secretary Wendel Avisado, and Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra, to oversee the management and utilization of the Coconut Farmers and Industry Trust Fund (CFITF).

During the TFMC’s inaugural meeting last June 17, Dominguez was elected as TFMC’s chairman, according to the DOF.

“After many years of intense political debate, it was only during the Duterte administration that the Coco Levy Law was finally enacted. This marks a promise fulfilled by the President who, in his 2019 SONA (State of the Nation Address), vowed to return these funds taken arbitrarily from the pockets of Filipinos back to its true owner,” Dominguez said.

The Finance chief also highlighted the numerous checks and balances imposed to ensure proper utilization of coco levy funds.

Among these are the following:

•     establishment of the Coconut Levy Asset Registry which shall serve as the repository of all information related to Coconut Levy Assets and shall be periodically updated
•     monitoring the status of disbursements of Implementing Agencies in relation to CFIDP

“It is now the task of the Trust Fund Management Committee to properly manage the coconut levy trust fund, which is estimated at P75 billion, so that it serves our strategic development goals,” Dominguez said.

The Trust Fund will manage around P75 billion in cash and assets for the benefits of the country's millions of coconuts farmers, who contributed for many years to grow the amount.

After then President Ferdinand Marcos was dislodged from power in 1986, local coconut farmers sought the assistance of the Presidential Commission on Good Government in filing court cases to refund their investment.

In 2014, the Supreme Court ruled that at least P71-billion worth of coconut levy funds that had been used to purchase shares in San Miguel Corporation during the Marcos years belong to the government and as such, should be used solely for the benefit of coconut farmers and for the development of the coconut industry.

The TFMC also noted the transfer of P10 billion to the CFITF as initial capitalization pursuant to RA 11524, and the submission by the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) of its initial inventory currently estimated to amount to P113.88 billion.

According to the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr), who serves as the Trust Fund Management Committee Secretariat, some of the assets in the PCGG inventory remain to be subject of various cases.

The BTr also stressed the position of the PCGG that its initial inventory is “by no means complete,” resulting to the call of the TFMC for the continuous update of the Asset Registry.

The Commission on Audit (COA) is mandated by RA 11524 to audit the PCGG Inventory “to determine the completeness of said inventory, establish the reasonableness of the asset valuation, trace the flow of the Coconut Levy Funds, and to determine compliance with pertinent laws, rules and regulations on the reconveyance of the Coconut Levy Assets and/or Funds to the Republic.”

“As part of ensuring that the management of the CFITF is performed with transparency, accountability and prudence, the TFMC has directed for a continuous update on the status of the Coco Levy Assets, with the BTr being mandated to ensure that all coco levy assets declared with finality to belong to the government be transferred in the name of the Republic of the Philippines,” the DOF said.

Meanwhile, the Department of Justice (DOJ) shall be responsible for the review of the status of assets under litigation to ensure their timely privatization as required by RA No. 11524.

Finance Undersecretary Antonette Tionko was designated as the CFITF Portfolio Manager, while National Treasurer Rosalia de Leon was assigned as head of the TFMC Secretariat.—AOL, GMA News