SC asked to stop Aquino orders on coco levy fund
Agroup of coconut farmers has asked the Supreme Court (SC) to stop the Philippine government from implementing the executive orders signed by President Aquino that will pave the way for the use of the controversial coco levy assets.
In a 31-page petition for prohibition with a prayer for the issuance of a temporary restraining order and a writ of injunction, the Confederation of Coconut Farmers Organization of the Philippines (CCFOP) have questioned before the Supreme Court executive orders 179 and 180 pertaining to the inventory, privatization, reconveyance and utilization of coco levy funds, respectively.
The group argued that President Aquino gravely abused his discretion when he issued the two executive orders without the proper legislation.
“The privatization hang-up of government via its EO 179 is a complete abandonment of its duties as trustee of the coco levy assets and is indubitably contrary to the Supreme Court ruling and the moral philosophy of trust ownership,” Charlie Avila, executive director and spokesman of the group, explained.
While they do not object to inventory of all coco-levy assets and investments, Avila explained the government should not hastily privatize them – being just the trust owner of the assets.
“These twin executive orders can only lead to a much worse coco-economy of exclusion and would cause new plunder of the coco levy funds... The Aquino government has no regard for the moral nature of the ownership of the coco levy assets,” he lamented.
Multi-billion peso assets The coco levy funds are valued at
billion in hard cash, which are currently held in trust with the Bureau of Treasury and various other companies, and billions more in non-cash assets, which are now also held in different companies such as the UCPB, CIIF Oil Mills Group, Coco Life, UCPB-Gen, and COCOCHEM.
In December last year, the SC allowed the government to get hold of the proceeds from the forfeiture of the 24-percent block of shares in San Miguel Corporation (SMC) acquired through coconut levy.
The high tribunal granted the motion of the solicitor general last October seeking issuance of entry of judgment on its Sept. 2012 decision that upheld the re-conveyance of the shares registered in the names of the Coconut Industry Investment Fund and its holding companies.