Villar Submits Bill on Coconut Levy Trust Fund for Senate Plenary Debates

(PNA) – A bill creating a coconut levy trust fund for the benefit of 3.5 million coconut farmers in the country has been submitted for plenary debates in the Senate.

Senator Cynthia Villar, chairperson of the Senate committee on agriculture and food, reported out the Committee Report No. 106 on the Coconut Farmers and Industry Development Act of 2015 or Senate Bill No. 2675, a substitute bill for Senate Bill Nos. 455, 2126, 2467 and Proposed Senate Resolution No. 30.

The proposed law seeks to create the Coconut Farmers and Industry Trust Fund that will be composed of all coconut levy assets, including those declared by the Supreme Court as special public funds.

“We are confident that this law will finally resolve the decades-old issue surrounding the coco levy fund and will carry out its two-pronged goal — to help coconut farmers and develop the coconut industry,” Villar said.

She said the coconut farmers are considered as one of the country’s poorest, citing a National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC) report showing the highest poverty incidence at 60 percent with a per capita income of PhP41 a day.

About one-third of the so-called arable agricultural land or about 3.5 million hectares are planted with coconuts, representing 68 out of 79 provinces, and 1,195 out of the 1,554 municipalities in the country.

In her dialogue with the KM71 farmers who marched from Davao to Manila to push for the creation of the coconut levy trust fund last November, Villar said her committee will work for the passage of the law in the early part of 2015.

The group was also able to get the commitment of President Benigno S. Aquino III to prioritize the enactment of the bill.

The measure requires the conduct of an audit and inventory of all coconut levy assets by the Commission on Audit, together with the Presidential Commission on Good Government and the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA).

The Coconut Farmers and Industry Trust Fund Committee will be created to ensure the fulfillment of the objectives of the proposed law, and to direct and coordinate the implementation of the plan and the privatization of the levy assets.

This will be composed of the Secretary of the Department of Agriculture (DA) as chair; the Secretary of the Department of Finance as vice-chair; the National Economic and Development Administration (NEDA) Secretary, the PCA Administrator and five members from the coconut farmers sector.

Under the bill, all cash assets, reported to be about PhP70 billion, will become the initial capital of the trust fund. All non-cash assets will be transferred to the Trust Fund Committee and will be privatized by the Privatization and Management Office (PMO) within a five-year period. The proceeds will be remitted to the trust fund and will augment its capital.

The trust fund will be maintained perpetually and can only be invested in Philippine government securities. The Bureau of Treasury will be designated as the depository of the trust fund.

Five percent of the initial capital of the trust fund will be used for the initial implementation of the plan, and to fund the expenses of the Trust Fund Committee, the conduct of the audit and inventory, the formulation of the Plan, and the activities of the PMO.

The Coconut Farmers and Industry Development Plan shall be formulated within 180 days after the effectivity of the law.

Only programs and projects falling under four categories can be funded, namely, coconut productivity, including intercropping and livestock raising; community-based coconut enterprises, including integrated processing of coconut products and downstream products; coconut farmers organization and development; and social protection programs, such as medical, health and life insurance services, and scholarship grants. (PNA) SCS/JFM