‘Resigned PCA chief a spinner and weaver of tales’

Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap described resigned Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) chief Evangeline Valbuena yesterday as a "spinner and weaver of tales" during a Senate inquiry into the proposed coconut plantation project believed to be linked to her resignation.

Valbuena opposed the P8.4-billion proposed project because of its huge funding requirement and said the land being eyed for the project in Agusan del Sur was unsuitable.

But Yap told the Senate hearing that Valbuena’s misgivings on the P8.4-billion project were premature and that she should have gone through proper channels instead of first going to the press with her concerns.

It was earlier reported that funding for the Agusan Reserve Area Development Project — a 110,000-hectare nursery to be used for a nationwide coconut replanting program — would come from levies collected from coconut farmers during the Marcos dictatorship.

"There are enough procedural processes to question the project," he told the Senate committee on agriculture and food, chaired by Sen. Ramon Magsaysay Jr.

Valbuena’s resignation last Thursday came a day after Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita announced that Malacañang was already looking for a replacement for the PCA chief.

Ermita did not say why Valbuena was being replaced. But Valbuena said it was probably due to her opposition to the project.

Valbuena said she quit in order to give President Arroyo a free hand in choosing a replacement. She will stay on until Mrs. Arroyo accepts her resignation.

She earlier denied reports that she had resigned due to "pressure" from Malacañang. She likewise insisted there were no "personality clashes" between her and Yap even though she opposed the Agusan project.

Valbuena, who also testified at the Senate hearing, maintained that the project was not viable.

At the hearing, Yap denied pressuring Valbuena to back the project, saying it was still under study. "There was no project to be implemented, no P8.4 billion to speak of."

Besides, the project would have to go through normal procedures before it was actually implemented, he added.

At the hearing, the head of the Philippine Information Agency, Renato Velasco, told the committee that Valbuena had a history of insubordination.

Velasco once informed Valbuena by mobile phone text message that Mrs. Arroyo was concerned about her actions as PCA chief, he said.

Mrs. Arroyo called Velasco on March 28 and told him that she heard about Valbuena "throwing her weight around and defying the instructions of her superiors," he recalled.

The Senate and the House of Representatives plan to conduct separate inquiries into the project as well as its possible use of the coconut levy funds, which amount to nearly P10 billion.

The coconut levy fund is the subject of a drawn-out court battle between the government and San Miguel Corp. chairman Eduardo Cojuangco.

Cojuangco is accused of illegally acquiring his huge stake in San Miguel by using coconut levy funds acquired during the Marcos dictatorship. The government argues that the coconut levy funds are state funds.

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. said it seemed unusual that such a large amount of money would be spent on a single project.

In his resolution calling for an investigation, Pimentel stated "there is likewise a pressing need to scrutinize the utilization of the coconut levy assets, particularly those invested in San Miguel Corporation shares of stocks."