Farmers’ group: Ex-Air Force chief good pick as PCA head

LUCENA CITY — A farmers’ group has welcomed the appointment of retired Air Force chief Lt. Gen. Galileo Gerard Kintanar Jr. as chair of the governing board of the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA).

Jansept Geronimo, spokesperson for the peasant group Kilusan para sa Tunay na Repormang Agraryo at Katarungang Panlipunan (Katarungan), on Saturday said Kintanar’s military background “need not be considered bad, for as long as he will have a propoor vision in reviving the coconut industry.”

“This appointment, hopefully, will signal the start of coconut industry renewal, where small coconut farmers are the center and focus of development,” Geronimo said in a statement.

Tremendous resources

Kintanar, he said, would have tremendous resources at his disposal once the coco levy fund is released for the benefit of coconut farmers.

“This is something that his predecessors did not have. Hopefully, he will serve the interest of the poor and be able to resist attempts of traditional politicians who may want to dip their fingers [in] the coco levy fund,” Geronimo said.

In appointing Kintanar to the PCA post on Friday, President Rodrigo Duterte said he had asked the members of the PCA board to resign because he was “not comfortable with all the people [in the agency].”

The President said that “historically,” the PCA “has been plagued with corruption.”

Highest level of despair

With the expected enactment of the proposed coco levy bill, Kintanar would oversee the distribution of a P100-billion fund to coconut farmers.

The levy was collected from coconut farmers by the Marcos dictatorship.

Geronimo urged the new PCA leadership to immediately address the issues confronting the coconut industry.

“Small coconut farmers are in their highest level of despair, especially now that the price of copra [is continuing] its downward spiral,” he said.

Hunger, he said, is increasing among coconut farmers since their buying capacity has been diminished by inflation, low price of copra and low productivity of coconut lands.

“The need for the new appointee to take matters with the highest sense of urgency is paramount,” Geronimo said.