Con men prey on farmers, use coco levy bait

LUCENA CITY—Con artists have started preying on coconut farmers, riding on the anticipation of billions of pesos in coconut levy being returned in cash to those who had contributed to the funds.

The head of the farmers’ group Kilusan Para sa Tunay na Repormang Agraryo at Katarungang Panlipunan (Katarungan) said the con men’s targets are farmers in remote areas.

Danny Carranza, Katarungan secretary general, said his group has been receiving reports from members in Leyte province that several still unidentified people have been enticing coconut farmers to form or join village-based groups to qualify as beneficiaries of the coco levy’s return.

The con men, Carranza said, introduce themselves as members of a farmers’ group authorized by the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA), a government agency under the Department of Agriculture (DA) that oversees the coconut industry.

Recruitment

The con men tell farmers to form groups of 25 members each and recruit more members if they want to receive cash from the levy, Carranza said.

“We believe they are not legitimate PCA personnel,” he added.

“They are just using the name of the agency to provide a semblance of legality to their illegal activities,” Carranza said.

The recruiters, he said, also ask farmers to pay P250 each, purportedly registration fee, to entitle them to government assistance, including insurance benefits.

“These [people] are prowling the countryside to victimize naïve and disorganized coconut farmers,” Carranza said.

Jansept Geronimo, Katarungan spokesperson, said his group had already informed members and other farmers’ groups nationwide to help expose and counter the racket.

“The farmers have been fooled by the government countless times in the past,” Geronimo said.

“It is ironic if they would again become victims under the Duterte administration,” he added.

Appeal to PCA

He appealed to the PCA and other government agencies to stop the illegal activity.

Geronimo said members of his group in Quezon province have started an information campaign for farmers about the levy.

“They are all excited. They are always waiting for news related to the coco levy and agrarian issues,” he said.

Coconut farmers in Quezon are believed to be the biggest contributors to the levy, which was exacted from them between 1973 and 1982 during the Marcos dictatorship.

President Duterte has directed his legal team to initiate moves to ensure that the coconut levy fund, now worth more than P100 billion, are released to the country’s coconut farmers.

Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol, however, said the funds would not be returned in cash to the farmers, but in the form of projects.

The fund is expected to benefit more than 20 million coconut farmers and their families from some 21,000 coconut-producing villages nationwide.

Carranza also welcomed the return of the PCA to the Office of the President, through the issuance of Executive Order No. 1 that placed 12 national agencies under Cabinet Secretary Leoncio Evasco Jr.

He said the transfer of PCA supervision from Malacañang to the DA in 1987 did not benefit farmers.