‘Help coco farmers by returning levy’

INQUIRER NORTHERN LUZON FILE PHOTO

LUCENA CITY, Philippines—If the government wants to hasten the recovery of the coconut farmers in the typhoon-devastated areas of the Visayas, President Aquino should return the multibillion-peso coconut levy fund to its “real owners,” according to the militant Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) and the claimants’ movement Coco Levy Funds Ibalik sa Amin (Claim).

“We challenge Aquino to immediately certify as urgent House Bill No. 1327 to hasten the recovery of the small coconut farmers in Yolanda-hit areas,” KMP deputy secretary general Willy Marbella said in a statement on Saturday.

Marbella said it had been more than two months since Supertyphoon “Yolanda” hit the central Philippines but the small coconut farmers had yet to receive rehabilitation funds from the Aquino administration.

He said the small coconut farmers in typhoon-hit provinces were among the biggest contributors to the coco levy fund that is now estimated to be more than P70 billion.

Keep a close eye

Over the weekend, Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) Administrator Euclides Forbes said the agency’s rehabilitation plan was in place and an initial fund of P2.8 billion had been received by the PCA from Malacañang.

Forbes said the fund would be used to help coconut farmers in Leyte and Samar provinces (Eastern Visayas), on Panay Island (Western Visayas) and in northern Cebu and Bantayan Island (Central Visayas) that were hit by Yolanda.

Marbella, who is also Claim’s national coordinator, told the PCA they would keep a close eye on the P2.8 billion rehabilitation fund for the coconut farmers.

Damage to the coconut industry wrought by the typhoon was placed at P16.6 billion, with at least 15 million coconut trees toppled or uprooted when the monster storm smashed through the three Visayan regions on Nov. 8.

Marbella said that in returning the coco levy fund to the small coconut farmers, they could use their own money for their benefit and recovery.

HB 1327, or the Genuine Small Coconut Farmers Fund authored by Anakpawis party-list Rep. Fernando Hicap, provides that the coco levy fund be used exclusively for the benefit of genuine small coconut farmers.

Marbella explained that HB 1327 was the “legislative counterpart” of the small coconut farmers’ proposal for the “cash distribution of the recovered funds.”

It seeks to provide cash and other social benefits that include pension, medical and hospitalization benefits, maternity and educational assistance for the farmers.

The bill also seeks to finance socioeconomic projects focusing on livelihood programs and small and medium-scale coconut enterprises to be initiated by small coconut farmers and their organizations.

It also seeks to help finance the development of high-quality coconuts and the improvement of local coconut production.