Coconut farmers fight for Marcos loot

14 July 1999

Coconut farmers fight for Marcos loot

COCONUT farmers in the Philippines are fighting to recover money which was stolen from them by dictator Ferdinand Marcos.

The farmers say Marcos imposed levies on all coconut production in the 1970s which were supposed to be used to develop the industry. Instead they were siphoned off by Marcos to be invested in a host of projects.

The farmers are now pressing for that money to be recovered, most notably from the San Miguel brewing conglomerate.

• Financial Times 14/07/99 page 25