THE government-sequestered firm CIIF Oil Mills Group (OMG) disclosed that it has jumpstarted its efforts to implement an aggressive planting and re-planting of coconut trees to help farmers and cooperatives nationwide.
In a statement, CIIF OMG President Jesus Arranza said the firm has allocated P10 million to set up coconut nurseries in seven coconut-oil milling and refining plants all over the country.
The project was initiated by former Sens. Ramon Magsaysay Jr. and Wigberto Tanada, who are the Chairmen of the Boards of the six CIIF OMG companies. Magsayay and Tanada chair three CIIF OMG companies each.
“The vacant spaces in the plants should be made productive and used as nurseries, and the seedlings can then be re-planted in idle lands owned by the coconut farmers and cooperatives or to replace senile and old trees,” Magsaysay and Tanada said.
Arranza said that the CIIF OMG’s nursery project will be initially launched in a two-hectare lot within the Granexport Manufacturing Corp. plant in Iligan City.
He said that in previous years, the CIIF OMG had helped 212 coconut-farmer cooperatives in establishing nurseries involving 18.8 million seed nuts and helped PCA’s salt-fertilization program involving roughly 201,248 hectares planted to coconut trees. These programs were directly funded by the CIIF OMG.
“A serious planting and re-planting program is critical to the industry’s survival as copra supply has dramatically dropped last year resulting to a 40- percent decrease in coco exports. With the increased demand for coconut products, it is imperative that production correspondingly increase through an aggressive coconut planting program,” Magsaysay and Tanada said.
Arranza said, however, that these efforts will be followed by a more aggressive program as soon as the P8 billion in cash dividends that have accrued on the San Miguel Corp. (SMC) shares owned by the CIIF are ordered released by the Supreme Court from escrow.
A 2004 Sandiganbayan ruling declared the government as owner in trust for the coconut farmers, of all the CIIF OMG companies and about P60 billion worth of SMC shares of stocks registered in the name of the CIIF. This ruling has been appealed to the Supreme Court. The case has been awaiting final resolution for at least 20 years.
The CIIF OMG’s SMC shares represent 24 percent of the total shares in SMC and is apart from the 20-percent shares declared by the Supreme Court as owned by the group of Eduardo Cojuangco.
PCGG Chairman Andres Bautista earlier expressed hope that the Supreme Court will resolve the appeal and affirm the Sandiganbayan’s ruling soon.
Bautista added that most of the coconut farmers who contributed to the coconut levy that was used to acquire the CIIF OMG and the SMC shares are now in their twilight years and should be given the opportunity to reap the fruits of the coco levy.
The CIIF OMG is one of the biggest coconut milling conglomerates in the country whose plants are located in Legaspi City and Davao City, both of Legaspi Oil Co. Inc.; Cagayan de Oro City of Cagayan de Oro Oil Co. Inc.; Iligan City owned by Granexport Manufacturing Corp.; Mulanay, Quezon owned by Southern Luzon Coconut Oil Mill Inc.; San Pablo City of San Pablo Manufacturing Corp.; and Bauan, Batangas owned by Manila Refining Corp.
