It is with great relief and joy that the coconut farmers welcome the recent Sandiganbayan ruling that upheld government's and the coconut farmer's ownership of the 27 percent SMC shares that were bought using coco levy money.

This Sandiganbayan ruling has long been overdue. Two decades have passed since the coco levy cases were filed in the courts. And it has been one long and tortuous ride for the small coconut farmers. But this ride seems to be coming to an end. The coconut farmers' struggle to recover the coco levy is now almost finally over.

Hopefully, this Sandiganbayan ruling would now prompt the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) to rethink its position on pursuing a compromise agreement with Cojuangco. If anything, the PCGG should now become more earnest in pursuing the rest of the cases filed against Danding Cojuangco and his cohorts.

It is also high time for Danding to stop pretending that he has a claim to the SMC shares. He should refrain from wasting the time of the courts and from prolonging the pain inflicted on the coconut farmers. He should realize that now is the time for closure.

In the same vein, COCOFED should stop pretending that they represent the small coconut farmers, when in reality, they represent the big coconut landowners.

Lastly, the Sandiganbayan must now also rule on the ownership of the 20 percent SMC shares that Cojuangco is claiming.

Omi C. Royandoyan
Centro Saka, Inc.