‘Liquidate coco levy fund now to help the coconut industry’—Senator Enrile

MANILA, Philippines—The government should now use the multi-million coco levy fund and not wait for the Supreme Court’s decision on the case to help the country’s coconut industry, Senate President Juan Ponce-Enrile said on Thursday.

“Huwag na nating hintayin ang Korte Suprema. (Let’s not wait for [the decision of] the Supreme Court). Let us declare that this fund that came from the coconut farmers is really a public fund and liquidate it, convert it into cash and put it into a special trust to be handled by reliable people,” Enrile said during the hearing of Senate finance committee on the proposed budget of the Department of Agriculture in 2012.

“Maybe we can invest it in treasury bill so the government can use it for coconut development and earmark it for coconut development. And the income earned from that bulk of money will be used for replanting program so that it will relieve the government from contributing money from the tax payers to really modernize the coconut industry,” he said.

Enrile lamented the country was already left behind by Indonesia, Malaysia, Malaysia, Thailand and other small pacific islands in the region.

Responding to Enrile, Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala acknowledged that the government’s coconut programs had been derailed because they could not touch the money.

“Hiidi po naman kasi ma-consider yung coconut levy sapagkat sa maraming panahon po na every year ang lahat ng focus ng programa nababase sa coconut levy and yet hindi nalalabas yung coconut levy. Nadidiskarel ang programang pang nyogan (We couldn’t consider the coconut levy fund for years though annually the focus of the programs on coconuts has always been based on the coconut levy and yet it’s not released. The programs on coconuts have always been derailed,)” said Alcala.

The coco levy fund is a tax exacted from coconut farmers during the time of the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos. Cases pertaining to the fund have been filed in courts.

Also at the hearing, Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson questioned a ‘duplication’ of programs of the DA, which are already being utilized by other government agencies.

Lacson specifically pointed out the peace and development strategies which have been funded by the department for the past years. It has an allocation of P8 million in 2010, P3 million in 2011, and a one-million-peso budget is being proposed for 2012.

“Ano po ba yung yung paglalagakan ng pondong P8 million para suportahan ang peace initiatives ng pamahalaan? Mahirap ma-konek (Where would you allocate the P8-million fund to support the peace initiatives of the government? It’s hard to connect,)” said Lacson.

He also questioned the 4H Club of the DA, with the proposed allocation of P100 million, and the Young Farmers Program, which are both aimed at promoting the interest of the youth.

“Kami po rito mayroong Wednesday Club pero hind po ganito kalaki ang pondo (Here in the Senate, we have the Wednesday Club but we don’t have a budget as big as [P100 million]),” he said in jest, referring to a group of senators who has a regular informal dining-out meeting every Wednesday composed of Senators Ralph Recto, Joker Arroyo, Manny Villar, Francis ‘Kiko” Pangilinan and former Vice President Noli de Castro.