Congress recalls coco levy bill

To avert a possible veto of President Rodrigo Duterte, Congress has decided to recall the coco levy fund bill, which had been ratified already by both the Senate and the House of Representatives.

Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri disclosed that the bill should have been up for Duterte’s signature on Monday but it was suddenly removed from the agenda.

“That was number one in the agenda and we found out the President and the Office of the President removed that measure,” Zubiri told reporters on Tuesday.

READ: Senate ratifies coco levy fund bill

“Pag tanong namin, ang balita sa amin (When we asked, we were told): ‘Sir there’s a possibility that he would veto the measure today,’” he said.

Zubiri said he then immediately requested an emergency meeting with the President around 6 pm Monday.

As the Majority Leader, Zubiri said he offered to recall the bill and reconstitute the bicameral conference committee to reconsider the measure.

He said the two “major” issues that need to be addressed in the bill would be the composition of the council that will manage the fund of the transfers, and the P10-billion Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund.

Majority of the council, he said, should be composed of heads of government offices while the P10 billion fund should not be “perpetual.”

“Ayaw na ayaw po ng DBM (Department of Budget and Management) at DOF (Department of Finance) na walang sunset provision yung P10-billion na rice fund…” Zubiri said.

(The DBM and the DOF don’t want the P10-billion rice fund to not have a sunset provision.)

“Gusto nila may sunset provision. Ilang taon ba, dalawang tao, limang taon? Pero hindi pwedeng perpetual na ire-release sa mga magsasaka,” he added.

(They want a sunset provision. How many years; 2 years, 5 years? But it can’t be perpetually released to the farmers.)

Zubiri said the bicameral committee will meet at 6 pm this Tuesday and they hope to approve and ratify the measure before Congress goes on recess on Wednesday.

“It’s either we amend it or it’s lost,” the Majority Leader added. /je