Coco farmers urge SC to reconsider decision on Danding's SMC shares

MANILA, Philippines - A group of coconut farmers has asked the Supreme Court’s Committee on Ethics and Ethical Standards, through Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, to reconsider the April 2011 decision favoring San Miguel Corp. (SMC) chairman Eduardo “Danding” Cojuangco Jr.

The group calls itself “Mga Magniniyog at ang Kanilang mga Kababayang Nakikisangkot sa Pagtaguyod ng at Panawagan Para sa Katarungan.”

In a letter to the committee, the coconut farmers said the April 2011 decision that declared Cojuangco’s 20 percent shareholdings in SMC were not ill-gotten was questionable.

The farmers claimed that the decision was in conflict with the SC’s decision in January this year that SMC shares, which represent 27 percent of the total stock of the company was owned by the government, was ill-gotten and that it should be used for coconut farmers.

The Supreme Court upheld this ruling on Thursday, a move hailed by coconut farmers.

The April 2011 decision was based on three petitions filed by the Presidential Commission on Good Government. (PCGG) against the Sandiganbayan, Cojuangco and the Marcoses.

The High Court said the government failed to establish enough evidence that the shares in question were illegally acquired.

The contested SMC shares were brought using coconut levy funds, according to the coconut farmers.

The government sequestered these shares after the 1986 People Power Revolution. The government said the shares were part of the alleged ill-gotten wealth of the Marcos dictatorship administered by Cojuangco.