Coco levy fund bill vetoed

MANILA – President Rodrigo Duterte decided to veto the Coconut Farmers and Industry Development bill, which could have create a P100-billion trust fund for coconut farmers.

Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea confirmed the development on Friday evening but the Malacañang has yet to issue an explanation as to why the President vetoed the bill.

Had the measure been signed by Duterte, it would reconstitute the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) to manage the P76 billion in coco levy funds such that they benefit coconut farmers and the sector as a whole.

The coco levy was tax paid by coconut farmers during the Marcos regime. The Supreme Court had ruled in 2012 that the funds must now be used only for the benefit of the farmers and the coconut industry.

In the vetoed bill, the coco levy funds would be managed by the PCA, the same agency that had abused the funds in the 1970s. In a bid to prevent such misuse, lawmakers decided to craft a twin bill reconstituting the PCA.

The bill went through a bicameral conference committee as the Palace raised issues with the composition of the council that will manage the fund, and the lack of sunset provisions for the funding for coconut farmers.

The vetoing of the measure came a week after Duterte also vetoed the bill seeking to strengthen the PCA as the measure “regrettably lacks vital safeguards to avoid the repetition of painful mistakes in the past.”/PN

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