Coco farmers demand release of UCPB shares

MANILA, Philippines - Coconut farmers trooped to the Supreme Court (SC) yesterday to demand the release of the shares of presidential uncle Eduardo “Danding” Cojuangco Jr. in the United Coconut Planters Bank (UCPB) earlier seized in favor of the government.

The group, dubbed as Kilus Magniniyog 71 (KM 71), submitted to the High Court letters urging the justices to order the execution of their Nov.27, 2012 decision that affirmed the Sandiganbayan ruling in July 2003 declaring Cojuangco’s UCPB shares as part of assets illegally acquired from coconut levy funds.

The coco farmers asked the High Tribunal to issue an entry of judgment on its ruling that was affirmed and became final in July last year.

Without the SC’s entry of judgment, Rene Serilla, KM 71 leader, pointed out that the coco levy fund would not be distributed to all coconut farmer-beneficiaries.

 “Because of this, the farmers’ share of the funds has remained frozen and unused in the National Treasury and the UCPB. We have waited long enough in poverty,” he said in an interview.

In a unanimous ruling penned by Associate Justice Presbitero Velasco Jr., the SC held the Sandiganbayan was correct in nullifying the May 25, 1975 deal of the Philippine Coconut Administration (PCA), which transferred to Cojuangco by way of compensation 10 percent of the 72.2 percent First United Bank (now UCPB) shares of stocks that the PCA purchased from his uncle, Pedro Cojuangco, using the coconut levy funds.

The Court ordered Cojuangco to return the UCPB shares to the government “for the benefit of all coconut farmers and for the development of the coconut industry.” 

 The High Court stressed Cojuangco, in effect, received public assets with a value then of P10.88 million, conside                    ring his admission that the PCA paid the entire acquisition price for the 72.2 percent shares out of the Coconut Consumers Stabilization Fund (CCSF).

It held that Cojuangco benefited himself by owning property acquired using public funds.

The SC also stressed the PCGG had presented “conclusive” and “incontrovertible” evidence to prove this in the anti-graft court.

The SC also upheld the anti-graft court’s ruling declaring the government as owner of the 72.2 percent shares of UCBP paid by the PCA using coconut levy funds.

In the 2003 ruling, the Sandiganbayan ruled the use by the PCA of coconut levy funds to purchase the 72.2 percent of UCPB in 1975 was illegal.

Earlier this year, however, government-appointed members of the UCPB board of directors initiated two suit seeking to declare P15.6 billion of the seized P71-billion coco levy fund shares as owned by the UCPB, not the government.

Lawyers of UCPB initiated two special civil actions for declaratory relief in Makati; – the first on behalf of the UCPB and against the Coconut Industry Investment Fund Oil Mills Group (CIIF OMG) and the PCGG, and the second on behalf of COCOLIFE and against Coconut Industry Investment Fund Oil Mills Group (CIIF OMG) and the PCGG.

A special civil action for declaratory relief is a case in which the courts are asked to make a declaration regarding a right being claimed by the petitioner. In essence, petitioners UCPB and COCOLIFE are asking the Makati courts to determine if part of the P71 billion  worth of UCPB shares the SC had said is owned by the government is owned instead by UCPB.