Small farmers buck UCPB sale

A group of small coconut farmers opposed yesterday the planned sale of the United Coconut Planters Bank (UCPB) saying they were not consulted about it.

"As far as we know, there was never any mention of a possible sale. Only the need for re-capitalization was discussed," said Hili Morandarte, president of Liga Magniniyog.

The government presently controls 95 percent of UCPB that was allegedly formed using the levy collected from coco farmers during the Marcos administration.

The ownership of the shares is being contested before the Sandiganbayan by the Presidential Commission on Good Government and businessman Eduardo "Danding" Cojuangco who claimed to have used his personal funds in putting up the UCPB.

Malacañang was reportedly trying to convince Cojuangco’s group to sell part of the contested shares to raise the capital of the UCPB by at least P10 billion.

Morandarte warned that Edward Go, UCPB president, would be going beyond the scope of his powers as UCPB head in proposing an interim agreement with all parties fighting over the bank’s ownership without the UCPB Board’s authorization.

"It is not Mr. Go’s job to propose any interim agreements and certainly not to negotiate the sale of UCPB," Morandarte noted.

Morandarte added that the interim agreement would be "a little more than a compromise agreement" similar to an earlier proposal hatched by the pro-compromise group led by Cojuangco.

"Coco levy payments were used to buy the shares of UCPB. Clearly, it is the interests of the beneficial owners he (Go) should be looking at," Morandarte maintained.– Sheila Crisostomo