Enrile seeks probe on P1.5-B loss of CIIF-OMG

Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile has filed a resolution seeking an inquiry into the P1.5-billion net operating loss incurred from 2005 to 2007 by sequestered Coconut Industry Investment Fund-Oil Mills Group (CIIF-OMG). Senate Resolution No. 389, which was filed late Monday, seeks to determine what actions — if any — the Presidential Commission of Good Government (PCGG) had taken to address the financial problems of CIIF-OMG. The measure would pave the way for the adoption of remedial legislation that assures the continued preservation and conservation of the sequestered assets, Enrile said. CIIF-OMG includes Legaspi Oil Company Inc., San Pablo Manufacturing Corp., Cagayan de Oro Oil Co. Inc., Southern Luzon Coconut Oil Mill Inc., Granexport Manufacturing Corp. and lIigan Coconut Industries, Inc. The companies were acquired using a portion of the Coconut Industry Development Fund Levy, which was supposed to finance various coconut planting and replanting programs, coconut research and extension services programs, establishment of model plantations, and acquisition of coconut-related industries for the benefit of coconut farmers and the coconut industry in general. However, the CIIF-OMG companies and its subsidiaries were sequestered by the PCGG on suspicion these were parts of the supposed ill-gotten wealth of former President Ferdinand Marcos and other individuals. Since then, Enrile said the group generated "respectable" operating incomes through the years but that it suddenly incurred huge accumulated losses from 2005 to 2007. "It is paramount that the government undertake the necessary steps to... prevent their dissipation for the benefit of the 3.3 million coconut farmers of the country through the government," the senator said in the measure. — Kimberly Jane Tan/VS, GMA News