A measure to further strengthen the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) is now awaiting President Duterte’s signature.
This, after the House of Representatives ratified late Wednesday the bicameral committee report on House Bill 8552 and Senate Bill 1976, or the proposal to further strengthen the PCA, amending the Presidential Decree 1468 or the Revised Coconut Industry Code, as amended.
The lower chamber has already ratified its twin bill, or the “Act Establishing the Coconut Farmers and Industry Development Trust Fund, Providing for its Management and Utilization,” also on Wednesday. The coco-levy bill mandates the creation of the Coconut Farmers and Industry Trust Fund, which shall be for the ultimate benefit of coconut farmers and the coconut industry.
After more than four decades, Majority Leader Rolando G. Andaya Jr. said the country’s coconut farmers may finally enjoy the fruits of the coco levy as Congress approved these measures that institutionalize the system on how to plow the coco- levy funds back to farmers.
Andaya described the approval of the twin measures as “timely and necessary” given the continuous decline in the price of copra, a major issue facing the coconut sector for the past years.
“Copra used to sell over P40 per kilograms a few years back. Now, prices have plummeted to as low as P20 per kilogram. Paano pa mabubuhay ang mga magsasaka ng niyog niyan [How would coco farmers survive]?” Andaya said.
“More than ever, now is the time to rush to the aid of this dying industry. The price of copra in the world market is falling to dangerously low levels. The coco-levy fund is a lifeline that will not only help our coconut farmers survive; it could make the coconut industry a viable one once more,” the House leader added.
The measure strengthening the PCA grants a reconstituted PCA the powers to supervise and manage the money and the new Coconut Farmers and Industry Development Plan.
The board of PCA is now composed of eight government agencies, including the Departments of Agriculture, Finance, Budget, Science and Technology, Trade and Industry, Land Bank of the Philippines and the Development Bank of the Philippines.
Six farmer representatives will also compose the board, including two each from Luzon, the Visayas and Mindanao. Another representative from the coconut processing industry sector will also be included.
The coco-levy funds have been stuck in court disputes until 2012, when the Supreme Court awarded the shares bought with the coco-levy funds to the government to be used for coconut farmers and the industry.
Andaya, citing the PCA, said there are currently 3.5 million coconut farmers from 68 coconut producing provinces with the average annual income of P15,000, or about P41 a day.
Andaya added it was also reported that the coconut industry is suffering from a decline in production, saying coconut lands cover 30% of the country’s total agricultural area.