Australia bullish on trade with PH: trade minister

Australia’s Trade Minister Don Farrell said his country is bullish about two-way trade with the Philippines despite concerns over a possible global economic slowdown. Farrell is on a working visit to the Philippines until April 25.

He says that while both countries are part of the RCEP ans several other free trade deals, the Philippines should still pursue a bilateral free trade agreement with Australia. He says this will benefit the min-

Farmers lament slow rollout of programs from Coco Levy

More than 2 years have already passed since the Coconut Farmers and Industry Trust Fund Act was signed into law, but farmer Rene Cerilla said he has yet to feel the benefits of the programs from the coco levy fund.

“Mabagal po ‘yung implementasyon ng gobyerno. Kami po ay siyam na organisasyon, wala pa man lang kahit isa doon ang nakakuha ng benepisyo,” Cerilla said.

Cerilla is the legal and policy advocacy officer of the Pambansang Kilusan ng mga Samahang Magsasaka or PAKISAMA, an organization of farmers that has been fighting to secure rights to the coco levy fund.

mechanized equipment and post-harvest shared facilities, infrastructure projects under the DPWH, and health and medical projects.

For Cerilla, a major hurdle for many coconut farmers is the requirement to be part of a cooperative.

“Ang makikinabang na tuwirang kaagad agad ay yung mga organisadong magsasaka. Taliwas ‘yun dun sa pinanggalingan ng pondo. Dahil noong kolektahin naman ‘yung pondo ng coconut levy, hindi sinabi na o, eto kokolektahin namin ito sa mga organisadong magsasaka,” Cerilla said.

eral and agriculture sectors.

Two-way trade between Australia and the Philippines reached $6.2 billion in 2021. Australia’s trade with Vietnam meanwhile hit nearly $18 billion, while trade with Thailand reached $25 billion.

During the House hearing on the Coconut Farmer and Industry Development Plan (CFIDP) on Tuesday, it was revealed that only around 34 percent of the funds for its programs were utilized, according to the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA).

Among the programs that were not implemented in 2023 were college scholarships for children of coconut farmers,

(The ones who will benefit immediately are the organized farmers. This is contrary to the source of the funds because when the coco levy was collected, they did not collect it solely from organized farmers.)

Another issue is the verification of the list of beneficiaries.

Of the 3.5 million Filipino coconut farmers targeted to benefit from the coco levy fund, the PCA said only 1.7 million or around half have been validated so far.