P120-M loan payment demanded from San Carlos farmers coop

THE National Government has notified a San Carlos City-based farmworkers cooperative to settle as soon as possible the interest, penalties and amortizations on the principal from the loans it incurred from the Philippine Sugar Corporation (Philsucor) in 2008.

Based on the documents furnished to Sun.Star Bacolod, Philsucor pointed out in a March 15, 2013 notice sent to Gamboa Hermanos Farmworkers Multi-Purpose Cooperative (GHFMPC) that as of November 30, 2012, the cooperative has only paid P1,317,361.83 out of its P5,462,676.58 amortization on the principal of its loan, or a backlog of P4,145,314.75.

The coop has been led by Representative Julio Ledesma IV (1st district, Negros Occidental) and his congressional aide, Mariano Antonio Cui III, who served concurrently as GHFMPC chief executive officer.

Philsucor, established in 1983, is mandated to provide financing in the acquisition, rehabilitation and or expansion of sugar mills, refineries, and other related facilities, ensure the viability and stability of their operations, and provide for the eventual redemption and/or reacquisition of the said entities by the private sector, if deemed practical.

In 2008, GHFMPC applied for a long-term crop loan and supplemental crop and bridge loan with Philsucor to the tune of P120 million.

Two years later, however, upon the request of the GHFMPC, the various loans were restructured and consolidated, and the accrued interest re-capitalized into one long-term package through a Loan Restructuring Agreement the cooperative itself drafted, said Philsucor sources, who requested anonymity.

The principal amount of the loan, as restructured, was P117,948,745.12, subject to an annual interest pegged at nine percent, and payable on weekly basis starting January 10, 2010 until March 2019.

The same sources, however, revealed that as of March 15 this year, or after about two years from the date that the GHFMPC was supposed to start paying, the settlement of amortization on the restructured loans, as agreed upon by both parties, is very much behind.

Based on documents provided by Philsucor sources, GHFMPC, as of last month, paid only P23,418,060.11 in interest out of its P30,787,323.42 due, or a balance of P7,369,263.31.

The Commission on Audit had also included in its findings against Philsucor the outstanding loan account of GHFMPC and required it to collect the full amount of the cooperative's outstanding loan, including the disallowed condonation of penalties.

But the pressure on the payment of Gamboa Hermanos' loans with Philsucor appears to have fallen on the shoulders of small farmers and ARBs belonging to GHFMPC.

Sources also indicated the loan incurred was not spent entirely on the cooperative's sugar operations but allegedly on the "whims and caprices" of Ledesma and Cui and their political activities.

"Why are we the ones being pressured to settle this multi-million loan when we did not benefit from it?" asked an ARB-member of the GHFMPC.

The Philsucor board of directors exerted efforts to help the GHFMPC as discussed in its previous meetings but lamented that no positive action has been taken by the GHFMPC on its problems, prompting the government corporation to issue the Ledesma-led cooperative, composed of small planters and agrarian reform beneficiaries, "to give GHFMPC this last chance to at the very least, update and make current its amortization payments up to March 15, 2013, principal, interest and penalties alike, including the full payment of the supposed condoned penalties disapproved by COA within 15 days" from receipt of the demand letter, the sources continued.

Philsucor called on Gamboa Hermanos to consistently comply with the required amortizations pursuant to the schedule of payment contained in the Loan Restructuring Agreement.

"Otherwise, Philsucor will be constrained, and left with no other choice, but to declare GHFMPC in default, declare the full amount of the outstanding loan due and demandable, and resort to the exercise of any or all of its legal remedies under the existing agreement and laws, to enable Philsucor to meet the requirements of COA and protect its interests," the agency's notice to Gamboa Hermanos stated.

Sun.Star Bacolod tried to get the comment of Ledesma and Cui but to no avail. (TDE)

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