THE government has set up a Coco Levy Asset Registry to monitor the status of assets that have been acquired through the multibillion-peso coconut levy fund.
In a bid to ensure that the management of the estimated P75 billion Coconut Farmers and Industry Trust Fund (CFITF) is “equipped with checks and balances,” the government introduced innovations, including the establishment of the Coco Levy Asset Registry.
The coconut levy fund was derived from fees collected under former President Ferdinand Marcos from coconut farmers. It was later declared as public funds by the Supreme Court.
The Asset Registry will contain separate records for both cash and non-cash coco levy assets while classifying them into those which were already declared with finality as belonging to the government and those which are still subject to litigation.
The Asset Registry must be regularly updated and it shall also serve as the TFMC’s records of all information related to coco levy assets, which shall be based on the initial inventory submitted by the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG).
The Bureau of the Treasury (BTr), which serves as the Trust Fund Management Committee (TFMC) Secretariat is required to establish the Coco Levy Asset Registry, based on the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of Sections 9 to 11 of Coconut Farmers and Industry Trust Fund Act or Republic Act No. 11524 published on June 10 in a newspaper of general circulation.
The IRR was drafted by TFMC, which was tasked under the law to oversee the utilization and management of the CFITF.
Following the passage of RA 11524, the PCGG submitted an initial inventory of Coco Levy Assets to the TFMC estimated to be worth P113.88 billion—consisting of cash, shares of stock, holding and trading companies, as well as their subsidiaries.
However, the TFMC Secretariat reported to TFMC the PCGG’s position that its initial inventory is “by no means complete” as some of the assets in the PCGG inventory are still under dispute in various courts such as the Sandiganbayan, Supreme Court, and the Regional Trial Courts. Based on this report, the TFMC called for continuous updating of the Registry.
Under the IRR, the PCGG is required to submit to the TFMC periodic reports containing updates on the status of the coco levy assets.
The Commission on Audit (COA) is also mandated under RA 11524 to audit the PCGG inventory, “to determine the completeness of the PCGG inventory, establish the reasonableness of asset valuation, trace the flow of the Coconut Levy Funds, and to determine compliance with pertinent laws, rules and regulations on the reconveyance of the Coconut Levy Assets.”
Within one year from the submission of the PCGG inventory, COA is required to submit its audit report to the TFMC.
The BTr was also directed to ensure that all assets already declared with finality to belong to the government are reconveyed to the Republic as required under the law.
Meanwhile, the Department of Justice was tasked to review the status of assets currently under litigation.
Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III, who was elected as TFMC Chairman, said the Committee should ensure that it performs its functions with “transparency, accountability and prudence.”
“After many years of intense political debate, it was only during the Duterte administration that the Coco Levy Law was finally enacted. This marks a promise fulfilled by the President who, in his 2019 SONA (State of the Nation Address), vowed to return these funds taken arbitrarily from the pockets of Filipinos back to its true owner,” Dominguez said at the first TFMC meeting on June 17.
He added: “It is now the task of the Trust Fund Management Committee to properly manage the coconut levy trust fund, which is estimated at 75 billion pesos, so that it serves our strategic development goals.”
The TFMC also includes Budget Secretary Wendel Avisado and Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra as members. Finance Undersecretary Antonette Tionko was also named as the CFITF Portfolio Manager, and National Treasurer Rosalia de Leon as head of the TFMC Secretariat during the meeting.