Senator Villar Refiles Coco Levy Bill

Senator Cynthia Villar has filed a new version of the so-called Coco Levy bill on Thursday. 

The new version aims to create a Coconut Farmers and Industry Trust Fund to manage taxes collected from coconut farmers from 1971 to 1983. The amount collected, called the Coco Levy, is currently estimated to be P105 billion and should have benefited coconut farmers.

Upon passing, the bill will grant an immediate P5 billion to the Trust Fund and another P5 billion to the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA). 

Villar’s bill also creates a Trust Fund Management Committee composed of representatives from the Department of Finance (DoF), Department of Budget and Management (DBM), and Department of Justice (DOJ) to ensure judicious use of the fund. 

Villar in her sponsorship speech for the bill said the Coco Levy in the past was invested in businesses not directly benefiting coconut farmers. 

“It has likewise considered a 2015 Supreme Court decision voiding certain provisions of two Executive Orders on the management of the funds and its reconveyance in order to help fast track the consolidation of the coco levy assets. These are EO 179 and EO 180,” she added.

EO 179 and EO 180 passed during President Benigno Aquino III’s administration allowed for the privatization of Coco Levy assets. 

An earlier version of the bill was vetoed in February last year by President Rodrigo Duterte, who said it violates the constitution and lacks important safeguards that can prevent a repeat of earlier mistakes. Months after, in his State of the Nation address, Duterte called on lawmakers to make a new Coco Levy bill.

The overall aim of Villar’s bill is to rehabilitate the Philippine coconut industry within 99 years. 

“It’s about time the monies of our coconut farmers, which they rightfully own, should be plowed back to the coconut industry for the ultimate benefit not only of the 3.5 M coconut farmers but of our entire coconut industry and the Philippine economy,” Villar ended.