Ex-solon urges scrutiny of billion-peso coco-levy fund

FORMER Manila Rep. Benny Abante has asked lawmakers to scrutinize the multibillion-peso coconut-levy fund in light of the recent controversy involving a board member of the government-sequestered United Coconut Planters Bank (UCPB).

Abante was referring to the alleged conflict of interest and unethical behavior on the part of UCPB board member, lawyer Nilo Divina, dean of the University of Santo Tomas Faculty of Law in allowing his law firm—Divina Law—to handle cases challenging public ownership of the coco-levy fund.

“I strongly urge my former colleagues to look into this as it involves public interest of the highest magnitude,” said Abante, former chairman of the House Committee on Information.

“We have already lost P10 billion in the pork-barrel scam. And if reports are true, our people are about to lose another P15.6 billion worth of coco-levy-fund, a significant percentage of what our farmers have fought to recover over four decades,” he said.

Earlier, the antigraft watchdog National Coalition of Filipino Consumers (NCFC) questioned why government-appointed members of the UCPB board of directors have challenged public ownership of the coco-levy funds.

The group said the bank has filed two cases against the Presidential Commission of Good Government (PCGG), asking the courts to declare P15.6 billion of the total P71 billion worth of coco-levy fund shares as UCPB-owned.

Both cases are handled by Divina’s law firm, hence, the NCFC’s accusation of “conflict of interest” and calls for a full disclosure of the cases being handled by the law firm.

“It does not take a lawyer to figure out these acts, if indeed true, constitute graft and corruption—possibly plunderous and certainly preposterous. The UCPB has sued the PCGG, the government instrumentality that controls it for ownership of funds, which the Supreme Court has, with finality, awarded to coconut farmers. Worst of all, the law firm of a board member handles the case,” the former lawmaker said.

The UCPB’s Corporate Governance Committee has defended the action of the board, saying that “the requisites to satisfy any conflict-of-interest challenge were more than adequately satisfied.”

The committee said the bank has even disclosed its decision to engage the services of Divina Law firm to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas for transparency.

It noted that Divina waived his professional fees for time and effort devoted to the cases.

But the NCFC said that whether the law firm did accept fees or not is irrelevant since acceding to handle the cases is unethical enough.

“It does not matter which personalities or offices the UCPB board consulted before filing the cases. Contemplating even filing them against public interest is questionable enough. It’s like we’re being sautéed in our own fat. Once again, they’re trying to pull a fast one on the country and our people,” the NCFC said.

In July 2013, the Supreme Court ruled with finality that the coco-levy funds were public property and ordered the UCPB to surrender its shares to the government “for the benefit of all coconut farmers and for the development of the coconut industry.”

“Everything seems clear to everybody else but the UCPB board. Congress should take up the cause for our coconut farmers and ask Divina et al.: Why?” Abante said. –Joel R. San Juan, BUsinessmirror