Palace tells coconut farmers: Wait a little longer

FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — Coconut farmers may have to wait a little longer before President Benigno Aquino III issues a clear-cut policy on the disposition of the P70-billion coco levy fund.

The President’s deputy spokesperson, Undersecretary Abigail Valte, said on Tuesday that the Presidential Task Force on the Coco Levy was still finalizing recommendations on the custody and utilization of the fund to Aquino.

Valte described the disposition of the coco levy fund as a complex issue that involved many stakeholders, and all the possible solutions to the issue would have to be explored.

“We would have to finalize the recommendations of the Presidential Task Force on the Coco Levy. Just because we are not saying anything doesn’t mean we’re not doing anything. It’s difficult at this point because there are many groups invested in the issue,’’ she said in a briefing.

Coconut farmers have grumbled about the executive department’s silence on the management of the P70-billion coco levy fund representing a 24-percent stake in San Miguel Corp., and aired fresh calls on the President to intervene.

Valte could not say if farmers would get a clear answer from the President before the year-end.

“I do not want to tie anybody down primarily because I am not the one working on this. But the task force is aware of the pendency of this issue and they are working to the best of their abilities to make sure that all issues are answered,’’ she said.

Valte earlier said that the task force, convened in December 2011, was to reconvene last Oct. 5 to finalize their recommendations in the light of the Supreme Court ruling on the fund.

Strategic Communication Secretary Ricky Carandang indicated last week that using portions of the P70-billion fund for farm inputs would likely be one of the task force’s recommendations to the President.

“I think it’s realistic to expect that one of the recommendations would be that some portion of the funds would go to farm inputs, but any plan would have to be approved by the President first,’’ he said in a text message.

Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala preferred that the P70 billion be utilized to grow the industry by spending for farm inputs, instead of distributing cash to individual farmers.

Sen. Joker Arroyo had scoffed at this, saying this was a re-run of the “evil that the martial law government promised the farmers when they collected the levies.’’ He had pushed for cash distribution.

The 24-percent block of shares was part of at least 47-percent block of shares sequestered by the Philippine Commission on Good Government on suspicion that these were illegally acquired by the dummies of then strongman Ferdinand Marcos using the coco levy funds.

The coco levy funds were monies collected from the coco levy, a tax imposed on the farmers from 1973 to the early 1980s. Marcos appointed businessman Eduardo “Danding’’ Cojuangco as the administrator of the funds. Cojuangco, who eventually became the majority and controlling owner of the San Miguel Corp., is the uncle of the President.

The block of shares was originally 27 percent but was reduced to 24 percent after it was diluted with the investment of Japanese brewer Kirin in SMC.

The remaining 20 percent claimed by Cojuangco was earlier ruled by the Supreme Court in April 2011 as having been legally acquired.