No 'perpetual trust fund' provision in vetoed coco levy bill, Tañada says
MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte may have vetoed the Coco Levy Fund Bill—a measure to set up a P100-billion trust fund for coconut farmers—because of a non-existent provision for a perpetual trust fund, a candidate for senator said Tuesday.
In his veto message dated February 8, Duterte said the bill “may be violative of the Constitution and is lacking in vital safeguards to avoid the repetition of painful mistakes committed in the past.”
Duterte said the establishment of an “effectively perpetual” trust fund would violate this specific line in the 1987 Constitution: “[All] money collected on any tax levied for a special purpose shall be treated as a special fund and paid out for such purpose only. If the purpose for which the special fund was created has been fulfilled or abandoned, the balance, if any shall be transferred to the general fund of the government.”
He also mentioned the “absence of a limit on a covered land area for entitlement to the benefits of the trust fund” and the “broad powers” given to the Philippine Coconut Authority as the reasons for vetoing the priority bill.
But former Rep. Lorenzo “Erin” Tañada III (Quezon), lamented the veto “is like putting another nail in the coffin for our coconut farmers.”
Tañada: 'Perpetual trust fund' not in bicam report
He also stressed the president may have not been informed of the provisions of the bill.
“Upon reading his veto message, the president cited as one of the grounds the ‘establishment of a perpetual Trust Fund’ that violates Article VI Section 29(3) of the 1987 Constitution. But that provision is nowhere to be found in the bicam report. What it provides is the P5 billion annual disbursement for a period of 25 years or until such time the fund is fully utilized,” Tañada said.
He added: “Simple math would tell us that the P5 billion disbursement a year would not last beyond 20 years. Where is the perpetual character of the fund there?”
The coconut levy trust fund is in addition to the P10-billion funding from the General Appropriations Act.
The former deputy House speaker said the president should have just allowed it to lapse into law.
“This will somehow provide for an enabling law that will guide the utilization of the funds that is direly needed by the coconut farmers and an industry. As the president admitted in his veto message, the sector that is beset by serious problems and gravely needs government support,” Tañada said.
The bicameral conference committee approved last November the Coco Levy Fund Bill for the second time, more than a month after Congress had recalled the already ratified bill to prevent a possible veto from the president.
According to reports, Duterte also chose to veto the bill over a provision designating six farmer-representatives in the state-run Philippine Coconut Authority Board compared to only five government representatives.
Sotto: PLLO to blame for vetoes
On Monday, Senate President Vicente Sotto III said the Presidential Legislative Liaison Office's failure to coordinate with Congress led to the vetoing of bills that were considered priority measures.
"This is again another testament that we need to revitalize or even upgrade the PLLO. This is the nth time that we do not know what the executive department wants from us," Sotto is quoted as saying in a report in The STAR.
Aside from the Coco Levy Fund Bill, the measure reconstituting the Philippine Coconut Authority, and the Tax Amnesty Bill, all priorities of the administration, have also been vetoed.
"Like all the other bills vetoed, we could have addressed the provisions that the executive department does not want to execute," Sotto said.
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