CITY OF SAN FERNANDO – The Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) and the claimants movement Coco Levy Funds Ibalik sa Amin (Claim) lauded yesterday the move in Congress to probe alleged “confl ict of interests and plunderous schemes” in the United Coconut Planters Bank (UCPB).
The KMP expressed support for House Deputy Majority Leader Jose Christopher Belmonte’s resolution calling for the investigation of the board of directors of UCPB following allegations by Claim on the bank’s questionable dealings.
Claim regional spokesperson Arvin Borromeo expressed hopes that the probe on UCPB directors “would lead to a major overhaul of the bank.” “We hope that this probe would lead to the ouster and fi ling of criminal charges against UCPB directors who used and abused their position to enrich themselves and feast over small coconut farmers’ money,” Borromeo said.
He recalled that in a Senate inquiry in 2011, it was found out that the UCPB “literally stole” billions of coconut levy funds by allowing its “preferred clients to take out unsecured loans.” Borromeo noted that this prompted the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation to loan the troubled bank P12 billion.
“The national government also lent UCPB P30 billion at low interest to bail the bank out and let it earn from lending at a higher interest rate. In the same Senate inquiry, it was learned that from 2005-2009 one of its board members travelled abroad 27 times,” he also noted.
KMP Chair Rafael Mariano said “the probe should be under the framework of returning the coco levy funds to small coconut farmers as the legitimate and rightful owners.” “Aside from a political overhaul of the UCPB board, major policy decisions and directions should be instituted to ensure that the coco levy money would be returned to small coconut farmers,” Mariano said.
“It’s been more than 40 years since the coco levy fund was forcibly extracted from small coconut farmers. The return of the funds to small coconut farmers is long overdue,” he added. Marino noted that one concrete proposal for the return of the coco levy money to small coconut farmers is House Bill 1327 or the proposed Genuine Small Coconut Farmers’ Fund Act.
Under HB 1327, Mariano said, “the UCPB’s continued operation shall be steered by overriding concern of providing effective and sustainable solution to the genuine small coconut farmers’ credit problems.”
He noted a provision in the bill saying that “the bank shall retain such portions of the Genuine Small Coconut Farmers Fund, or profits therefrom, to be made available under a credit facility or scheme for the benefit of genuine small coconut farmers.”
“KMP and Claim described HB 1327 as the “legislative counterpart” of the small coconut farmers’ proposal for the “cash distribution of the recovered funds.”
