Senator Cynthia Villar welcomed on Tuesday President Duterte’s renewed push for the passage of the coco levy bill to redistribute the taxes imposed on coconut farmers during the Marcos administration.Duterte, during his State of the Nation Address Monday, urged Congress to pass a bill creating a Coconut Farmers Trust Fund for the benefit of coconut farmers and development of the country’s coconut industry.
Villar, chairperson of the Senate committee on agriculture and food, has been pushing for the release and utilization of the coco levy that was imposed on coconut farmers from 1971 to 1983. The amount collected is now estimated to be P105 billion. Last May 28, Villar sponsored the revised version of the coco levy bill, the Senate Bill No. 1396 she co-authored, along with Senators Francis Pangilinan, Ralph Recto, and Imee Marcos.
Under the new coco levy bill, the Coconut Farmers and Industry Trust Fund will be managed and disbursed in accordance with the Coconut Farmers and Industry Development Plan which will be formulated and implemented by the Philippine Coconut Authority .