SENATOR Cynthia A. Villar is banking on President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. to frontload signing into law a Congress-approved bill condoning loans of farmers and agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs).
Villar said that Senate Bill (SB) 1850, to be known as the New Agrarian Emancipation Act, will benefit 610,054 ARBs. The latter were granted lands under Presidential Decree 27, Republic Act (RA) 6657 (as amended by RA 9700) and who have outstanding loan balance as of the effectivity of the Act.
The bill, already passed by both houses of Congress, emanated from the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Food and Agrarian Reform that Villar steers as chairman. The bill includes a key provision to condone all principal and interests of loans from the award of agricultural lands under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program.
Villar expects that once enacted into law, P57.5-billion principal debt of 610,054 ARBs, tilling a total of 1,173,101.57 hectares of agrarian reform lands would be written off. The principal loan of P14.5 billion, including interests, penalties and surcharges are owed by 263,622 ARBs tilling 409,206.91 hectares of agrarian reform lands. The names of these ARBs and other loan details were already submitted by the Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) to Congress. Villar believes these loans shall be condoned outright.
The inclusion of the remaining P43.057-billion loan would take effect upon submission by the LBP and the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) of details of the indebtedness to government of the 346,432 ARBs, tilling 763,894.66 hectares of agrarian reform lands.
Moreover, the senator affirmed the enabling bill also provides that all cases related to the nonpayment of loans of ARBs with the DAR shall be dismissed motu proprio and that ARBs will be exempted from payment of estate tax. It also mandates the inclusion of ARBs to the Department of Agriculture’s “Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture” and will be provided with all support services for farmers.
“This bill seeks to help alleviate the plight of ARBs, who are farmers; for them to recover and overcome the fallout of the Covid-19 crisis, the devastating African swine fever, the ongoing avian influenza, the increasing cost of fertilizer, fuel and other farm inputs and climate change,” Villar added.
The lawmaker noted that farmers and farmworkers are waiting for the enactment of the enabling legislation that will “make possible their dream of receiving their land titles.”
“Without the land in their name, our farmers cannot access credit as they lack collateral to secure the same,” the solon said.
She also clarified that condoning farmers’ amortization “will provide them much-needed financial resources that shall help them develop their farms, increase their productivity and advance an agriculture-driven economy, improve the lives and that of their families, reduce poverty, accelerate rural development and promote food security.”
