The
government is ready to hold a dialogue with coconut farmers who want the coco
levy fund to be returned to them after several decades, Presidential
CommunicationsOperations Office Secretary Herminio Coloma, Jr. said.
It was reported that a group of coconut farmers from Davao is planning to go to Malacañang to ask the government to return the coco levy fund to them.
Secretary Coloma said the Palace acknowledges the farmers' rights to air their grievances regarding the coco levy fund, so long as it is done in a peaceful manner.
The Palace official assured the coconut farmers that the government would act for the benefit of the entire coconut industry.
He said such agencies as the Department of Agriculture and the Philippine Coconut Authority are the primary entities that address the needs of coconut farmers.
"Kaya’t makakaasa ang ating mga magsasaka sa industriya ng niyugan na gagawin ng pamahalaan ang nararapat," Coloma noted.
The coco levy fund scam was a controversy in the 1970s and 1980s, involving former President Ferdinand Marcos and his cronies, among them Eduardo Cojuangco, Jr.
Marcos and his cronies allegedly conspired to tax coconut farmers, promising them development of the coconut industry and a share of the investments, but on the contrary used the accumulated money for their personal profit.
They purchased the United Coconut Planters Bank and a majority stake in San Miguel Corp. using the fund.
The coconut farmers have been fighting for justice for decades against the forced taxation, and a share of the Coco Levy Funds' investments.
The coco levy fund is estimated to have ballooned anywhere in the range of P100 billion to P150 billion in assets. (PCOO News Release)
It was reported that a group of coconut farmers from Davao is planning to go to Malacañang to ask the government to return the coco levy fund to them.
Secretary Coloma said the Palace acknowledges the farmers' rights to air their grievances regarding the coco levy fund, so long as it is done in a peaceful manner.
The Palace official assured the coconut farmers that the government would act for the benefit of the entire coconut industry.
He said such agencies as the Department of Agriculture and the Philippine Coconut Authority are the primary entities that address the needs of coconut farmers.
"Kaya’t makakaasa ang ating mga magsasaka sa industriya ng niyugan na gagawin ng pamahalaan ang nararapat," Coloma noted.
The coco levy fund scam was a controversy in the 1970s and 1980s, involving former President Ferdinand Marcos and his cronies, among them Eduardo Cojuangco, Jr.
Marcos and his cronies allegedly conspired to tax coconut farmers, promising them development of the coconut industry and a share of the investments, but on the contrary used the accumulated money for their personal profit.
They purchased the United Coconut Planters Bank and a majority stake in San Miguel Corp. using the fund.
The coconut farmers have been fighting for justice for decades against the forced taxation, and a share of the Coco Levy Funds' investments.
The coco levy fund is estimated to have ballooned anywhere in the range of P100 billion to P150 billion in assets. (PCOO News Release)
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