GMA to launch P60-B economic program

President Arroyo announced yesterday that another economic pump-priming program worth at least P60 billion will be launched soon, specifically in poor rural areas of the country.

As the economic program will be funded by the controversial coconut levy fund, the President ordered the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) and the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) to exert more efforts to reclaim the disputed P60 billion to P100 billion fund so that the government could use it in its economic programs.

Militant farmers and other cause-oriented groups, however, condemned the PCGG for the reported compromise deal it is hatching with San Miguel Corp. (SMC) chairman Eduardo "Danding" Cojuangco Jr. and the farmer groups.

"Coconut farmers are not involved in talks between elitist groups," Belinda Formanes, convener of the Bantay Marcos Wealth-Coco Levy (BMW-CL), said in a text message sent to reporters.

Ka Willy Marbella, internal deputy secretary general of the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP), also said that only PCGG Chairman Camilo Sabio and Davao Archbishop Fernando Capalla of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) want an out-of-court settlement and not the farmers.

"Sabio has no mandate to speak for coconut farmers. He should just resign," Marbella said. He also called on the government to conduct a lifestyle check on officials of the PCGG and the Coconut Industry Investment Fund (CIIF) on suspicion that these officials were enjoying perks from the coco levy funds at the expense of the coconut farmers.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Arroyo said during the Council of State meeting in Malacañang yesterday that there were actually a lot of suggestions regarding rural development.

"There were a great number of very significant suggestions, recommendations and contributions, all of which are truly very worthy of adoption and especially with regards to rural development," she said.

She directed Budget Secretary Romulo Neri to disclose to the public the details of the new P60-billion pump-priming program which is on top of the P35 billion to be released in installments by the Palace to spur economic growth within the first quarter of the year.

"The President said she wants to accelerate the release of coco levy funds and get the PCGG and OSG to act on this," Neri said.

At least P25 billion would be immediately available once the 20-percent disputed shares in SMC are resolved, he said.

In 1987, the PCGG was able to sequester some of the ill-gotten wealth of the Marcoses, including the bulk of the coconut levy assets. In 2001, the Supreme Court ruled that the coconut levy fund was a public fund that must be used to benefit the coconut industry and its farmers.

Neri said if released, the fund would have a major impact on the economy as most of the poorest farmers are in the coconut-growing provinces. There are about three million hectares of coconut farms in the country.

Neri added that of the two million hectares of land being targeted by the administration for agribusiness, 1.4 million hectares are coconut farms.

Among other initiatives discussed during the Council of State meeting were on upgrading the genetic quality of carabao for dairy production; micro-financing for farming families; information dissemination for farm productivity; irrigation projects; and construction of more farm-to-market roads.

Among those who attended the Council of State meeting yesterday were former President Fidel Ramos, Vice President Noli de Castro, Speaker Jose de Venecia, former Supreme Court chief justice Hilario Davide Jr., Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago, Sen. Edgardo Angara, local executives and business leaders as well as Cabinet members and sectoral representatives. — Paolo Romero, Sandy Araneta