The Sandiganbayan has ordered United Coconut Planters Life Assurance Corporation (Cocolife) to return 255.8 million United Coconut Planters Bank (UCPB) shares to the Philippine government, ruling that they are coconut levy assets.

In a 27-page decision dated 24 February 2025, the court’s Second Division dismissed Cocolife’s petition for declaratory relief, which argued that the shares were not covered by the Republic Act No. 11524 or the Coconut Farmers and Industry Fund (CFITF) Act. The Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) had sought the return of the shares, asserting that Cocolife was created and funded using coconut levy funds.

“UCPB’s shares of stock in Cocolife are reconveyable coconut levy assets within the purview of the CFITF Act,” the Sandiganbayan ruled. “The subject shares of UCPB in Cocolife fall squarely within the broad definition of ‘coconut levy assets’ as defined in the CFITF Act.”

The court cited Section 6 of the CFITF Act, which mandates the reconveyance of coconut levy assets to the government. It emphasized that such reconveyance does not require a final Supreme Court declaration, contrary to Cocolife’s claims. “The CFITF Act clearly distinguishes between coconut levy assets in the first and second paragraphs. The distinction made by the law thus implies that reconveyance of coconut levy assets does not require a final declaration by the Supreme Court that these assets belong to the Philippine government,” the court stated.

Cocolife had argued that ownership of the shares remained unresolved due to the dismissal of Civil Case No. 0033-B, which sought to recover ill-gotten wealth from companies formed with coconut levy funds. However, the Sandiganbayan cited previous Supreme Court rulings that established the shares were bought with coconut levy funds, including the case of Republic vs. COCOFED.

“The Supreme Court reiterated its ruling in COCOFED vs. Republic, stating that plainly enough, the coconut levy funds are public funds,” the anti-graft court added.

As a result, the Sandiganbayan ordered Cocolife to “immediately issue certificates of stocks in the name of the Republic of the Philippines” for the UCPB shares. It also affirmed that the PCGG retains the authority to recover coconut levy assets, even beyond the one-year period stated in the CFITF Act.

The ruling marks a significant step in the government’s efforts to recover and redistribute coconut levy funds, which were collected from coconut farmers during the Marcos regime and allegedly used to finance private business ventures instead of benefiting the industry.

Cocolife has yet to issue a statement regarding the court’s decision.