The Gardener as CONFED Spokesman denounces a rider in the Appropriations Act that would surreptitiously take out Billions of Farmers’ Money in violation of settled judicial doctrine on the nature of the coco levy funds.
The spokesperson of the newly organized Confederation of Coconut Farmers’ Organizations has exposed and opposed in writing and over the broadcast media certain “Special Provisions” that arbitrarily give two government agencies billions of pesos from the coco levy funds.
A letter was sent to both the Senate President and the House Speaker to do their utmost to prevent the clear government plunder of funds exclusively devoted to all the coconut farmers and the development of the coconut industry.
The Senate President assured the Gardener that he will do his utmost to prevent it while, in the same radio program, Andy Bautista, the Chairman of the PCGG (Presidential Commission on Good Government), said he can only follow whatever the lawmakers decide in favor of the coconut farmers and the coconut industry.
Hereunder is the letter stating the facts.
December 6, 2012
FOR: The Honorable Senate President and The Honorable House Speaker and, through them, for the appropriate Bicameral Conference Committee
FROM:
The CONFEDERATION of COCONUT FARMERS’ ORGANIZATIONS of the PHILILPPINES (CONFED) – composed of COCOFED (the Philippine Coconut Producers Federation, Inc.), PASCFO (the Philippine Association of Small Coconut Farmers Organizations), and PKSMMN (the Pambansang Koalisyon ng mga Samahang Magsasaka at Manggagawa sa Niyugan)
RE: Our Strong Objection to TWO small paragraphs in the General Appropriations Act of 2012 (R.A. 10155)
Dear Sirs/Mesdames:
We would like to call your attention to two entries found under “Special Provision(s)” in the budgets of the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) and the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG), that so arbitrarily give these two agencies 10 percent and five percent retentions in all recovered alleged unlawfully acquired wealth.
The pertinent portion of the special provisions in the PCGG budget reads: “All proceeds realized from the sale of administration or assets by the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) shall be deposited with the National Treasury: PROVIDED, That not more than 10% of such proceeds shall be used for the payment of lawful claims, which includes recovery expenses, selling expenses, custodianship and other costs attributable to the sold or administered assets…”
As for the OSG, the special provisions state: “In addition to the amounts appropriated herein, the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) is authorized to use P3, 649,000 sourced from: (i) five percent of monetary awards by Courts to client agencies….”
We the biggest national confederation of coconut farmers’ federations and related associations easily see how with the P57.6 billion payment by San Miguel Corp. for the 753,848,312 Series 1 preferred shares held by the Coconut Industry Investment Fund (CIIF) Oil Mills, such fine print in the 2012 national budget could mean a P5.76 billion share for PCGG and P2.88 billion for OSG! Or P5.65 billion for PCGG and P2.825 billion for OSG if you go by the P56.5 billion remitted to the National Treasury.
Unless immediately corrected, this would constitute official government plunder of public trust funds whose beneficial owners are exclusively the coconut farmers of the Philippines. We denounce this as blatantly immoral and urge you to immediately and thoroughly expunge the same from your draft “laws” – for laws they can never be under settled judicial doctrine.
PCGG and OSG are allocated funds to do their job of lawyering for the government. It is not as if they have merely zero budget. No, they are given amounts by the General Appropriations Act that already cover their activities, including litigation. It simply is part of their mandate. Why are they being given extra funds over and above what they are entitled to? Is that not tantamount to double compensation? Why are they getting compensated for something that is their duty? Meantime, while government agencies have their hands full with trust funds for the benefit of all the coconut farmers and the development of the coconut industry, not one cent has yet to go to the original purposes of such funds.
Thanks so very much, Sirs/Mesdames, for making the historic correction in timely fashion.
Yours very truly,
Charles Avila, Executive Director and Spokesperson of CONFED (COCOFED, PASCFO AND PKSMMN).