DA chief sees silver lining in P8.4-B Agusan coco project case

An optimistic Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap declared the controversy surrounding the Agusan del Sur coconut plantation project "was a blessing in disguise" since it helped to reveal the status of the multibillion-peso coco levy funds.

"We have an opportunity to discuss the coco levy case, how it was collected, how it was disposed, whether there has been accounting or audit of these funds," Yap told reporters yesterday.

Yap made the statement after emerging from a Senate hearing over the exchange of accusations between him and resigned Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) administrator Evangeline Valbuena.

Yap and Valbuena faced off for the second time during the Senate inquiry over the Agusan project, which the former PCA chief claimed was being financed by the coco levy funds.

Valbuena claimed she had been pressured to resign by Yap because she refused to support the Agusan project, which would reportedly be funded with P8.4 billion of the coco levy funds.

Valbuena said she did not support the project because it would use too much of the total funds for a single project in a single town.

Valbuena claimed Yap had personally pushed for the approval of the project and called on Malacañang to force her to resign because of her opposition.

Yap has denied the accusations and pointed out that it was "much ado about nothing" since the project was only at the conceptual stage.

Valbuena resigned as PCA chief two weeks ago after Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita announced a search committee had been formed to look for her replacement.

Yap claimed that until now, he could not comprehend why the issue was brought up by Valbuena.

He pointed out the PCA governing board itself had confirmed that the memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed by executives of the PCA and Coconut Industry Investment Fund (CIIF) oil mills was merely to undertake a feasibility study for the project.

The MOU was one of several documents cited by Valbuena as evidence that Yap and his associates were planning to implement the costly project.

"It’s very clear that even the governing board is telling the honorable senators that they’re not ready to implement this project," Yap told the hearing, referring to a letter forwarded by the PCA board to the Senate.

Yap welcomed the renewed discussions on the management of the coco levy funds, even though he did not approve of the manner in which they surfaced.

"At the end of the day, we’d like to ensure that these funds go back to the coconut farmers from whom (they) were collected and… ensure that these go back to their benefit," Yap said.

He said the future of the Agusan project would depend on the findings of a technical working group composed of the Cocofinance, CIIF and the PCA on the viability of the project.

After the technical working group finishes its report, it will be submitted to the PCA board for further study, then sent to the DA and finally to the Cabinet for approval.

"So there’s still a long way to go," he said. "Right now, there’s no project to speak of."

Yap pointed out there was a Presidential Decree reserving the 110,000 hectares of the area as agro-forest reserve.

"But the question is, is this project ready for implementation and has a fund been identified? And the answer, there is no program and we have no funds," Yap said.

The Senate hearing stemmed from a resolution filed by Sen. Ramon Magsaysay Jr. seeking an investigation into Valbuena’s claims that P8.4 billion of the coco levy fund had been allocated for the Agusan Reserve Area Development Project.

The House of Representatives also called for a parallel investigation into the issue that would be undertaken by several party-list lawmakers.