Farmers should be represented in coco levy trust fund management committee —Pangilinan

Outgoing Senator Francis Pangilinan on Tuesday pointed out the need to amend Republic Act No. 11524 or the Coconut Farmers and Industry Trust Fund Act as the committee mandated to oversee the disbursement of the trust fund lacks representation from the farmers.

“Ang aking tingin d'yan kulang ang representation ng farmers doon sa trust fund committee that could disburse the assets. I feel that has to be corrected. We have to help create farmer representation after all galing sa buwis, sa levy ng mga farmers ‘yan,” Pangilinan said in an ANC interview.

(There is a lack of farmer representation in the trust fund committee that could disburse the assets. I feel that has to be corrected. We have to help create farmer representation after all the funds are from the taxes or the levies of the farmers.)

“So, hopefully ma-address 'yan (that would be addressed) in terms of getting more representation and amending the law to include farmer representatives sa (in the) trust fund committee,” he added.

Pangilinan warned of possible misuse of the fund if the disbursement of the assets are not strictly monitored by Congress, citing as an example the P42 billion worth of COVID-19 funds that was investigated by the Senate last year for alleged erroneous transactions that the government had entered into, including the procurement of supplies from Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corporation.

“Kung hindi mabantayan ‘yan, baka malustay 'yan. Kailangan talagang matiyak na ‘yung sektor ng magniniyog ay binibigyan ng boses at mabantayan ng next Congress ang gastos nitong P75 billion na yan,” he said.

(If we will not monitor its use, then the funds might go to corruption. We need to ensure that the coconut industry will be given a voice and the Congress will oversee the use of the P75 billion.)

With the “critical” role of the farmers in the trust fund committee, Pangilinan hoped that the next leaders in the Department of Agriculture and in the Philippine Coconut Authority will “ensure meaningful participation of coconut farmers” in the implementation of the law.

Last week, re-elected opposition Senator Risa Hontiveros also 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.

Their statements came 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 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.

After late dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr. 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.—AOL, GMA News