Preamble
WHEREAS, a rationalization program for the coconut industry was mandated by LOI 926 in 1979 to save the coconut oil milling industry from financial collapse whereby a cooperative endeavor was organized among coconut farmers, oil millers and exporters of coconut products to pool and coordinate their respective resources in the buying, milling and marketing of copra and its by-products; WHEREAS, a self-reliance energy program was instituted by the Government whereby the energy requirements of the country would be serviced from indigenous and renewable local sources and thereby diminish its dependence on imported energy; WHEREAS, the Coco-Diesel Program was conceived and implemented as a substantial element in the country's self-reliance energy program such that coconut oil, one of the country's indigenous and renewable sources, would be utilized as a diesel fuel extender and fuel blending stock; WHEREAS, to ensure a continuous supply of coconut oil for the Coco-Diesel Program and at the same time strengthen the rationalization program for the coconut industry, Presidential Directive dated 1 September 1982 was issued mandating that the coconut oil production of intermittent exporters of coconut products and the excess production of those primarily engaged in the domestic market be instead channeled into the Coco-Diesel Program rather than into the world market, and pursuant to which, the Philippine Coconut Authority ("PCA") issued Administrative Order No. 002, Series of 1982 establishing Rules and Regulations to implement the said Presidential Directive; WHEREAS, the severe drought in 1982-83 caused a substantial reduction in the copra production of the country and compelled the Government thru PCA to adopt measures to meet Philippine and world market requirements for coconut oil; to prevent cutthroat competition for copra; and to forestall short term cycles of artificially high prices of coconut products in the domestic and world market including the issuance of PCA Administrative Order No. 002, Series of 1983; WHEREAS, since the promulgation of the Presidential Directive and the PCA Administrative Orders, copra production of the country has dropped even further as a result of numerous typoons in late 1983 and two (2) super typhoons in 1984; WHEREAS, in 1974, the Government launched a national hybrid coconut replanting program with actual replanting commencing in 1979 as a viable means of increasing copra production and thereby enhance the country's competitiveness in the international market of fats and oils, which was however suspended in 1982 in response to the public clamor against the coconut levy which financed the replanting program; WHEREAS, pending review of alternative schemes for financing the replanting program, the Government ordered, as a result of the super typhoons in 1984, the replanting of the devastated areas with high-yielding hybrids with this limited replaing program not bearing fruit until the 1990's; WHEREAS, external forces beyond the control of the Government plunged the country into a severe economic and financial crisis compelling the Government to seek a standstill and a restructuring of its external debts; WHEREAS, to enable the country to restructure its external debts, the Government has implemented a series of substantial economic policy measures which include reforms in the production, pricing, marketing, credit and institutional arrangements of the coconut industry; WHEREAS, after a thorough review, it is deemed to be in the interest of all that there be less Government intervention in the marketing of coconut products and allow the private sector greater access to the markets, and at the same time encourage and require the private sector to establish and adopt appropriate measures to enhance the competitiveness of coconut products in the world market; NOW, THEREFORE, by virtue of the powers vested in me by the Constitution and the laws, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the Philippines, do hereby decree and order the following: