The Senate is expected to front-load the passage of an enabling law converting the multibillion-peso coconut-levy collection into a trust fund for coconut farmers soon as the 17th Congress convenes on July 25.
Sen. Cynthia A. Villar on Friday confirmed plans to enlist the Senate leadership’s commitment to prioritize approval of the re-filed bill embodying the “Coconut Farmers and Industry Development Act,” which provides for “a coconut-levy trust fund for coconut farmers.”
Early passage of the measure is seen as the senator noted that the bill already went through committee hearings and plenary deliberations in the previous Congress, where, Villar recalls, she was “able to sponsor the said bill under Committee Report 106 and it reached the period of amendments in the Senate plenary.”
“It is our objective to make a law that will be sufficient to realize our collective goal of ensuring long-term benefits to the 3.5 million Filipino coconut farmers,” Villar said.
The senator explained that the proposed legislation, likewise, aims to address how cash assets worth P72 billion plus accrued interest will be invested. Villar also affirmed the inclusion of transparency provisions “on how the remaining noncash assets worth approximately P30 billion will be sold.”
The remedial legislation is high on the list of Villar’s priority legislative agenda for 17th Congress, during which she also committed to push the passage of bills protecting the plight of farmers and fishermen, as well as overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).
“We used the [congressional] break to consult with our constituents and visited areas here and abroad, where we learned the best practices in agriculture. In drafting the content of our bills, we were guided by the results of these consultations and visits,” the senator said.
Moreover, Villar vowed to work for early approval into law of a separate bill earlier rejected by former President Benigno S. Aquino III, which would have granted a P2,000 across-the-board increase in the pension of 1.9 million Social Security System (SSS) members.
Villar, who sat as chairman of the Committee on Government Corporations and Public Enterprises, labored to ensure passage of the P2,000 SSS pension hike by both houses of the previous Congress only for Aquino to veto the bill.
When the 17th Congress opens regular sessions late this month, Villar said she will also “prioritize the creation of a department for OFWs, the Department of Migration and Development,” which she expects to gain wide support from the new set of senators.
“We will make government transaction easier for OFWs by putting in one department the agencies that they need in securing permits and in availing assistance. We will also strengthen the repatriation and legal assistance program,” Villar said.
At the same time, the Senator affirmed agriculture will remain a priority in her legislative agenda, as it was in the last Congress, where she principally authored and sponsored 16 enacted bills as chairman of the Committee on Agriculture and Food.
For the 17th Congress, Villar has lined up for enactment other reform bills covering the agricultural sector, including, the Urban Agriculture Bill, Crop Protection Bill, Development of a Micro Insurance Program, Amendments to the National Food Authority Charter, Abolition of National Irrigation Authority fees, Sustainable Agriculture through rain water harvesting, composting and coconet production, Amendments to the Veterinary Medicine Law, Bill mandating local government units to allocate a percentage of their development fund to agriculture, The Native Animals Preservation Act, Creation of the National Ruminant Center (Center (integration of the National Dairy Program with the Philippine Carabao Center), and, Amendments to the Livestock and Poultry Feeds Act.