Supreme Court Order: UCPB is not owned by Cojuanco, Coco Farmers but the Philippine Government

 Eduardo "Danding" Cojuangco

In collaboration with former Dictator President Ferdinand Marcos, Philippine President Noynoy Aquino's Uncle Danding Cojuanco, Juan Ponce Enrile, and others the "Coco Levy Fund" was extracted forcibly from Coco Farmers from all over the country.

What is Coco Levy Fund Scam?

The Coco Levy Fund Scam was a controversy in the 1970s and 80's in the Philippines involving the former President Ferdinand Marcos and his cronies. It is alleged that Marcos, Danding Cojuangco, Juan Ponce Enrile, and others conspired to tax coconut farmers, promising them the development of the coconut industry and a share of the investments, but on the contrary were used for personal profit particularly in the purchase of United Coconut Planters Bank (UCPB) and majority stake in San Miguel Corporation (SMC), to name a few.

The issue has not died today, with coconut farmers fighting for justice against the forced taxation, and a share of the Coco Levy Funds' investments. The Coco Levy Fund is estimated to have ballooned anywhere in the range of ₱100-150 billion in assets.

The recent Supreme Court decision Wednesday, awarding the share of the UCPB to the Philippines Government is the latest turn in the 40-year struggle to bring to poor coconut farmers the benefits of the Marcos-era levies gouged from them

Farmers demand return of coco levy fund after SC ruling on UCPB

Coconut farmers on Thursday hailed the decision of the Supreme Court on the United Coconut Planters Bank case and demanded the immediate return of the funds they said were forcibly extracted from them.

The Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) and the claimants' movement Coco Levy Funds Ibalik sa Amin (Return the Coco Levy Funds to Us, or CLAIM) also called on Congress to immediately tackle and pass House Bill 1327, or the "Genuine Small Coconut Farmers' Fund Act of 2013," filed by Anakpawis party-list Representative Fernando Hicap.

The measure says the coco levy funds shall not be part of the national government's general funds but shall be used exclusively for the benefit of genuine small coconut farmers and mandates the "cash distribution of the recovered funds."

Section 6 of the bill also mandates that the funds "shall be apportioned to all coconut farmers without discrimination/prejudice in the form of cash and other social benefits including but not limited to, pension benefits; medical and hospitalization benefits; maternity benefits; and educational assistance including scholarships."

It also seeks to use the funds "to finance socio-economic projects initiated by small coconut farmers and their organizations and/or cooperatives that shall primarily focus on: livelihood programs and projects meant to provide additional incomes to small coconut farmers; small and medium-scale coconut enterprises, marketing and trading mechanisms, inventions and innovations of machineries and equipment for the development of high-quality coconut and improvement of local coconut production; and, programs that would provide loan facilities for small coconut farmers."

The high court, voting 14-0, ruled that the shares of businessman Eduardo "Danding" Cojuangco, chairman of San Miguel Corporation, in UCPB belongs to the government.

The decision rejected an appeal by Cojuangco to overturn a November 2012 ruling that declared unconstitutional provisions of a May 25, 2975 agreement between the crony of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos and the Philippine Coconut Authority allowing him "to personally and exclusively own public funds or property."

The agreement provided for the transfer to Cojuangco "by way of compensation," of 10 percent of the 72.2 percent shares of stock that PCA purchased using the coconut levy funds, which came from taxes paid by coconut farmers during the Marcos administration.

"The SC ruling did not only strengthen the small coconut farmers' legitimate claim over the 72.2 percent shares in UCPB but reaffirmed the historical truth that President (Benigno III) Aquino's uncle plundered the coco levy funds," KMP deputy secretary general Winston Marbella said.

Cojuangco is first cousin of Aquino's mother, the late former President Corazon C. Aquino.

Marbella described the UCPB case as the "strongest testament of how Cojuangco and Marcos plundered the coco funds."

But he said the decision that the UCPB shares are owned by government should mean "the funds were owned by the small coconut farmers."

"The government is only a trustee for the small coconut farmers, the genuine and legitimate owners of the funds," he said. "The funds were forcibly exacted from small coconut farmers by the Marcos dictatorship."

"In light of the SC ruling, we demand (that) Aquino … immediately return to small coconut farmers the whole 72.2 percent shares in UCPB, along with the more than P70 billion recovered from San Miguel Corporation in October last year," KMP and CLAIM said.

With report from Interaksyon 

Continue reading

Foreign Affairs asks Europe Luxembourg Gov’t to accept Philippine CPA's as US, UK, AU,CA

DFA spokesman Assistant Secretary Raul Hernandez. FILE PHOTO

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has asked the government of Luxembourg in Europe to accept Filipino accountants who want to work there.

"Foreign affairs secretary Albert del Rosario has asked Luxemborg to recognize Philippine-issued accounting degrees, noting that Filipino accountants are sought in many countries including the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia," DFA spokesman assistant secretary Raul

Hernandez told reporters Wednesday.

"There are about 30 Filipino accountants in Luxembourg, one of Europe's major financial centers," he said.

The request was conveyed by del Rosario to Luxembourg's deputy prime minister and foreign affairs minister Jean Asselborn during their meeting last Monday, Hernandez said.

Del Rosario had also met with European Council president Herman Van Rompuy in Brussels, Belgium who congratulated the DFA secretary for the 7.8-percent economic growth of the Philippines during the first quarter of 2013.

Europe is among the largest investors in the Philippines and its exports to the country increased by 20 percent in 2012, Rompuy cited.

INQUIRER

Continue reading

Solar, Wind and Biomass Power Philippines? All PINOY could now Sell Electricity to Meralco, any Electric Company through RA 9513

In the new PRESS RELEASE for the ERC issues the Net-metering Rules, All end users who are just a mere electric consumers could now sell their excess electricity through bi-directional meters to the electric company following the price based on the Distribution Utility (DU) Standard approved by the ERC.

The Philippines joined the rapidly growing list of countries allowing consumers who generate their own electric power to sell excess supplies back to the electric grid for a reasonable price.

Last week, the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC), the principal government agency responsible for regulating the electric grid, approved a new interconnection standard that will enable net-metering of renewable energy for customers with distributed generation.

"The net-metering program will definitely change the electricity landscape," said Zenaida Cruz-Ducut, ERC chairwoman. "From just being recipients of electricity, electricity users may also now become generators, supplying not only their electricity requirements but also that of others through their distribution utilities' system."

In a net-metering arrangement, the consumer maintains a two-way connection to the distribution system and is

Consumers can generate up to 100 kilowatts of electricity from sources like solar, wind and biomass with equipment installed on their own premises. If they generate more than they can consume, they can sell the excess power supply back to their distribution utility company.

Under the new net metering rule, customers are only charged or credited, as the case may be, for the difference between the electricity they purchase from the grid and the electricity they sell back to the grid.

"It is a win-win solution, for the electricity end-user and for the environment," said Ducut.

PRESS RELEASE ERC issues the Net-metering Rules

07/03/2013

In a Resolution promulgated on July 1, 2013, the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) adopted the Rules Enabling the Net-metering Program for Renewable Energy, including the Net-metering Interconnection Standards (Net-metering Rules).  The Net-metering Rules allow electricity end-users who are updated in the payment of their electric bills to their distribution utility (DU) to engage in distributed generation. They can generate electricity from renewable energy (RE) sources like solar, wind, biomass or such other RE Systems not exceeding 100 kW that can be installed within the end-users' premises and supply the electricity they generate in excess of what they can consume directly to their DU. 

In a net-metering arrangement, the end-user maintains a two-way connection to the distribution system and is only charged or credited, as the case may be, for the difference between the electricity supplied by the DU (import energy) and the electricity it supplies to the DU during times when it has excess RE generation (export energy), both of which are metered using 2 uni-directional meters, one for import and one for export, or a single bi-directional meter.  Under the Net-metering Rules, pending the development of a different pricing methodology, the net-metering customer's export energy shall be priced based on its DU's blended generation cost.  Included in the Net-metering Rules also are the standards, which shall be complied with and observed by the net-metering customer to address engineering, electric system reliability, and safety concerns for net-metering interconnections, such as those concerning voltage level, frequency, and power quality, and those relating to system protection. 

Section 10 of Republic Act No. 9513 or the Renewable Energy Act mandates the ERC, in consultation with the National Renewable Energy Board (NREB), to establish the net-metering interconnection standards and pricing methodology to usher in the implementation of the net-metering for renewable energy program.  NREB developed the draft net-metering rules, which after being subjected to public consultations and after a series of coordination meetings and workshops between the ERC and the NREB Technical Working Groups and the relevant stakeholders, was adopted and approved by the ERC.

"The net-metering program will definitely change the electricity landscape.  From just being recipients of electricity, electricity users may also now become generators, supplying not only their electricity requirements but also that of others through their distribution utilities' system.  They avoid drawing electricity from the distribution grid equivalent to their own RE generation that they consume, in the process realizing savings in their electricity bills, and get paid a reasonable price for their RE generation that they cannot any more consume. It is a win-win, for the electricity end-user and, more importantly, for the environment because of the additional RE capacity that is shored up by the program," ERC Chairperson and CEO Zenaida G. Cruz-Ducut explained.

Resolution No. 9, Series of 2013, Rules Enabling Net Metering Program for Renewable Energy

Download the Resolution No.9 in PDF here

With report from Forbes and ERC

Continue reading