Future of two coco institutions serving farmers in limbo

Two institutions once credited with helping thousands of coconut farmers escape poverty are now “shadows of their previous robust selves,” said Leonardo Montemayor, a former Department of Agriculture (DA) secretary. Montemayor, now chairman of the Federation of Free Farmers, said the United Coconut Planters Bank-Coconut Industry Investment Fund’s (UCPB-CIIF) Finance and Development Corp. (CocoFinance) and