Estrada to consult Danding on coco levy

Twelve years and then some.

Coconut farmers aching for the release of the P50-billion coconut levy fund will have to wait a while.

President Estrada wants to consult first with businessman Eduardo "Dan-ding" Cojuangco and Zamboanga City Mayor Ma. Clara Lobregat before he signs an executive order that will lift the sequestration of some P50 billion in coconut levy funds.

Mr. Estrada was supposed to sign the measure the other day, but Agrarian Reform Secretary Horacio Morales said "certain matters" must be resolved first.

The measure will allow coconut farmers to get back at least 27 percent of the 47 percent government-confiscated shares in San Miguel Corp. (SMC).

Cojuangco chairs SMC, where coco funds were allegedly used to buy the food and beverage giant's controlling shares.

Lobregat, meanwhile, heads the Coconut Confe-deration of the Philippines (Cocofed) -- a farmers' cooperative which are the registered owners of the funds.

According to Mr. Estrada, Cojuangco and Lobregat have initially agreed not to touch the entire P50-billion fund.

But the two would very much like to use the fund's P5 billion annual interest rate as a revolving fund to finance government projects as well as rehabilitate the moribund coconut industry, the President said.

The P5-billion fund will be managed by a 10-man board that will be headed by the President himself.

Coconut farmers nationwide have been calling for the immediate signing of the executive order, saying the delay may derail efforts to resuscitate the coconut industry.

"While we may have to debate and discuss further, the more important thing is the release of the P50-billion coconut levy fund, representing 27 percent shares of stocks in SMC. We deem it necessary to have the executive order issued immediately to protect the interest of the small coconut farmers," the farmers said in a statement.

"We do not want to put to waste our efforts of more than 12 years, fighting for the recovery of the coconut levy fund. We want the fund returned to the farmers," the statement said.

They also supported Morales, who is seeking the immediate release of the fund and placing the same under a trust fund to be managed and handled by a committee where all claimant parties are represented.

Among the organizations that signed the statement are the Kalipunan ng Maliliit na Magniniyog sa Pilipinas, the Nagkakaisang Ugnayan ng Maliliit na Magsasaka at Manggagawa sa Niyugan, the National Federation of Small Coconut Farmers Organization, the Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Association Inc. and the Mindanao Small Coconut Farmers Forum.

Morales expressed optimism that a workable executive order is at hand.

"But we want to make sure that it will be acceptable to all," he said. --