IT has been reported in the press that officials of alleged coconut farmer organizations, which have flowered of late, are demanding that the government turn over the proceeds of the coconut levy fund to them. This was actually the ploy of COCOFED in martial-law days and, with the complicity of the government, it actually succeeded in taking over the funds for the benefit of its officialdom.

As a result, the levies, which were clearly public funds as envisioned by the presidential decrees, were diverted into projects unrelated to the original provisions that were designed to rehabilitate coconut farms, provide seed gardens as well as give farmer access to credit. Instead, the levies were used to buy insurance companies, commercial banks and oil mills, which were managed by the COCOFED officials and their allies for their own benefit. The profits derived from such activities never really trickled down to the farmers, who today are the most marginalized members of the agriculture sector.

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