The 90-day registration for the National Coconut Farmers Registry System should be finished by the end of April under the Coconut Farmers and Industry Trust Fund Act, or Republic Act No. The Philippine Statistics Authority says there are about 3.5 million coconut farmers and workers nationwide. The levy was collected from coconut farmers starting in 1971 under then President Ferdinand Marcos, who later ruled as a dictator. After his fall in 1986, various suits were filed to transfer control of the fund to the coconut farmers. In 2012, the Supreme Court declared that the fund belonged to the government for the benefit of coconut farmers.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer March 25, 2021 21:33 UTC