THE Duterte administration has urged Congress to pass a law that will unlock over P74 billion in coconut levy funds for the benefit of coconut farmers and their families.
Finance Secretary Carlos Domignuez said the new legislation should be put in place as soon as the Supreme Court lifts its temporary restraining order (TRO) on this fund.
Dominguez, who was agriculture secretary in the administration of the late President Corazon Aquino, said a law is needed so this money could be used by farmers in coconut-producing areas for such projects as support programs for them and scholarships for their dependents in, say, state colleges and universities.
Dominguez said that President Rodrigo Duterte has expressed his preference for the fund to be used for the exclusive benefit of coconut farmers and their families.
“We have discussed that at the Cabinet, and, you know, it’s quite a complicated issue, but we are going to make sure that the funds in the national treasury...will be used exclusively for the benefit of the coconut farmers,” he said.
But this will require new legislation, he said, because the fund is already with the national treasury and thus cannot be spent without congressional approval or a new law.
The fund, which was collected from coconut farmers during the Marcos administration, has been locked up for decades in legal cases over ownership issues.
“How it will be used is the question,” the Finance chief said. “We have suggested [at the Cabinet meeting] that one of the uses will be [the setting up of a] permanent fund for providing scholarships for people in the coconut areas based on the theory that, you know, education is what brings people up.”
“Now, we cannot say which particular coconut farmers because this thing happened 40 years ago. So the use of the funds will be dedicated to the areas where coconut is a major part of the economy,” Dominguez added. (SDR/Sunnex)