Joecon-led group and PCGG agree on plan to unlock coco levy funds

The government and a multisectoral group led by businessman Jose Concepcion Jr. have agreed on a common strategy to unfreeze the controversial coconut levy funds now estimated at some P130 billion.

The strategy is hinged on the idea that the 31 percent stake in food and beverage conglomerate San Miguel Corp. "uncontestably" belongs to coconut farmers and should be returned to them by next year.

The agreement was forged by the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG), Department of Agriculture (DA), Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) and the Multi-Sectoral Task Force on the Coco Levy (MTSF) led by Concepcion.

The STAR attempted to get a reaction from SMC, but the corporation declined to comment for now.

SMC Chairman Eduardo Cojuangco Jr. says he would not benefit from any agreement between the coconut farmers and the Philippine Coconut Producers Federation (Cocofed) who are contesting ownership of the levy funds before the Supreme Court.

Pending resolution of the case, however, the government and the MTSF said, in a press statement, that they have agreed on four basic positions:

• To "work hand in hand to free the funds now representing 31 percent of the shareholdings in (SMC), which admittedly belong to the coconut farmers."

• To identify the principal owners of the 31-percent shares, "veiled" 14 holding companies that control the shares and procure an absolute and unconditional deed of assignment to the PCGG so that a "truly meaningful" trust fund could be set up by Jan. 31, 2002.

• To meet with all parties concerned with the issue, through Concepcion and former Quezon Rep. Wigberto Tañada, and forge an agreement that would benefit coconut planters regardless of organizational affiliation.

• To ask President Arroyo to issue appropriate executive orders to unfreeze the coconut levy funds by Feb. 14, 2002.

The group said that even Cojuangco had admitted, in various instances since 1998, that the shares truly belong to the farmers.

In their meetings at the Club Filipino on Dec. 7, PCGG chairman Haydee Yorac said that the establishment of any perpetual trust fund from the 31-percent shareholding "will not be legally feasible (could even be illegal and immoral)."

The group agreed that it is "imperative" to identify the principal owners of the shares before any trust fund could be established because these funds may be controlled by these principals, through 14 holding companies. The Supreme Court issued a ruling that these holding companies cannot be compelled to reveal the names of the SMC shares’ principal owners.

"They can dictate the manner and how the funds will be utilized. Thereby, forfeiting the spirit and purpose why the trust fund was established," the MTSF said in its statement.

MTSF member, lawyer Mario Ongkiko suggested that the government ask the 14 holding companies to issue an absolute and unconditional deed of assignment to the PCGG. Ongkiko was tasked to draft the deed of assignment.

"This way a truly meaningful fund may be set up for the small coconut farmers and the development of the coconut industry," the MTSF statement read.

"The withdrawal of Cocofed or Mr. Cojuangco through a quit-claim agreement will not be sufficient without the principal owners," the MTSF added.

The MTSF is composed of 14 representatives of the Bishops-Businessmen’s Conference (BBC), Pambansang Koalisyon ng mga Samahang Magsasaka at Manggagawa sa Niyugan (PKSMMN), Katipunan ng Magsasaka at Magniniyog sa Pilipinas (KAMMPIL), Pambansang Kilusan ng Samahang Magsasaka (Pakisama), Coconut Industry Reform Movement (COIR), Philippine Rural Reconstruction Movement (PRRM) and Philippine Peasant Institute (PPI).