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MALACAÑAN PALACE
MANILA

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE PHILIPPINES

[ ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER NO. 19, November 09, 1992 ]

CREATING THE PRESIDENTIAL AD-HOC COCONUT LEVY FUNDS AUDIT COMMITTEE

WHEREAS, the government recognizes the legitimate demand of the coconut farmers for the government to conduct a financial and management audit for the protection of farmers’ interest;

WHEREAS, it has been ruled by the Supreme Court of the Philippines in Cocofed v. PCGG, G.R. No. 75713, October 2, 1989 that: “Until it is demonstrated satisfactorily that they (coconut levy funds) have legitimately become private funds, they must prima facie and by reason of the circumstances in which they were raised and accumulated be accounted subject to the measures prescribed in E.O. Nos. 1, 2 and 14 (s. 1986) to prevent their concealment, dissipation, etc., which measures include the sequestration and other orders of the PCGG”;

WHEREAS, it is imperative to safeguard the coconut levy funds now under government sequestration;

WHEREAS, the utilization and proper management of the coconut levy funds, raised by the State’s police and taxing powers, are the concern of the Government;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, FIDEL V. RAMOS, President of the Philippines, pursuant to the authority conferred upon me by law, do hereby create an Ad-Hoc Coconut Levy Funds Audit Committee, under the Office of the President, composed of the following:

a. Mr. Emmanuel Pelaez, as representative of the coconut industry’s private sector;

b. The Chairman of the Presidential Commission on Good Government;

c. Administrator of the Philippine Coconut Authority;

d. The Solicitor General;

e. The Secretary of the Department of Budget and Management;

f. The Commissioner of the Bureau of Internal Revenue; and

g. A representative from the Office of the President, to be designated by the President.

The Committee shall be headed by Mr. Emmanuel Pelaez as its Chairman, the PCGG Chairman as its Vice-Chairman, and the PCA Administrator as its Secretary.

A Secretariat composed of representatives from the abovenamed government agencies shall be organized by the Committee and shall hold office at the PCA Office, Diliman, Quezon City.

The Committee shall:

1. conduct a financial and management audit of all government institutions and government-owned or controlled corporations and their subsidiaries, as well as private entities under government sequestration, where the coconut levy funds and its proceeds may have been located; Provided, that said audit shall be conducted in accordance with existing laws and regulations;

2. conduct an inventory of all the real and personal properties that have or may have been procured or acquired legally or illegally with the use of the coconut levy funds and/or its proceeds;

3. submit a report of its findings and recommendations to the President as soon as possible but not later than ninety (90) days from date hereof.

The Committee may call on any Department, Bureau, Office, Agency or any instrumentality of the government for assistance in its auditing task, as well as in the discharge of its functions.

DONE in the City of Manila, this 9th day of November, in the year of Our Lord, Nineteen Hundred and Ninety-Two.

(Sgd.) FIDEL V. RAMOS
President of the Philippines

By Authority of the President:

(Sgd.) EDELMIRO A. AMANTE, SR.
Executive Secretary

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