Hontiveros: Plunder of coco levy fund can't be erased by disinformation, historical revisionism

Opposition Senator Risa Hontiveros on Thursday urged the government to include small coconut farmers in the consultations with regard to the release of the P75-billion trust fund from coco levy assets sequestered by the government.

This was after outgoing President Rodrigo Duterte issued an executive order approving the Coconut Farmers and Industry Development Plan (CFIDP), which would pave the way for the release of the trust fund.

Hontiveros made the call while emphasizing that disinformation and historical revisionism cannot erase the fact that the coco levy funds, which were intended to develop the coconut industry in the country, were plundered during the time of late dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr. father President-elect Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr.

"Bagama't masaya ako na umuusad ang mga hakbang patungo sa paggamit ng coco levy para sa coconut industry, inuulit ko ang aking posisyon na sa bawat hakbang ay dapat kabahagi at may konsultasyon sa mga maliliit na magniniyog," Hontiveros said in a statement.

(Although I am glad that we are moving forward to the use of coco levy funds for our coconut industry, I reiterate my position that the small coconut farmers must be included in the consultations on its release.)

The re-elected senator recalled pushing for the inclusion of the coconut farmers in the trust fund management committee, but her suggestion was not included in the final version of the Coconut Farmers and Industry Trust Fund bill that was signed into law by Duterte in February 2021.

Hontiveros vowed to push for the inclusion of coconut farmers in the said committee in the 19th Congress.

"The plunder of the coco levy under the dictatorship is a matter of historical record, which cannot be erased by disinformation or historical revisionism. Let us do right by our coconut farmers," she said.

After Marcos was removed 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. —Hana Bordey/KBK, GMA News