Manila Bulletin
Philippines
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Cynthia Villar confident PBBM will sign bill condoning 600k farmers' debt
Philippines
National
Cynthia Villar confident PBBM will sign bill condoning 600k farmers' debt
Cynthia Villar confident PBBM will sign bill condoning 600k farmers' debt
Published Jun 13, 2023 09:30 am
Sen. Cynthia Villar said she is confident that President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. will soon sign into law the bill condoning loans of farmers and agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs).
Sen. Cynthia Villar (Senate PRIB Photo)
Villar, chairperson of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Food, and Agrarian Reform, said Senate Bill No. 1850 or the New Agrarian Emancipation Act will benefit 610,054 ARBs who were granted lands under Presidential Decree No. 27, Republic Act 6657, as amended by RA 9700, and who have outstanding loan balance as of the effectivity of the act.
The bill specifically seeks to condone all principal and interests of loans from the award of agricultural lands under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP). Villar said farmers and farmworkers are waiting for the enactment of the measure, which will make possible their dream of receiving their land titles. “Without land in their name, our farmers cannot access credit as they lack collateral to secure the same,” Villar said. Once it is a law, ₱57.5-billion principal debt of 610,054 ARBs, tilling a total of 1,173,101.57 hectares of agrarian reform lands would be written off. According to Villar, the principal loan of ₱14.5-billion, including interests, penalties and surcharges of 263,622 ARBs, tilling 409,206.91 hectares of agrarian reform lands, whose names and other loan details were already submitted by the Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) to Congress, shall be condoned outright. The inclusion of the remaining ₱43.057-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, she said. Also, under the bill, all cases related to the nonpayment of loans of ARBs with the DAR shall be dismissed motu proprio; ARBs will also 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 said. Condoning farmers’ amortization “will (also) 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,” the senator stressed.
Sen. Cynthia Villar (Senate PRIB Photo)
Villar, chairperson of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Food, and Agrarian Reform, said Senate Bill No. 1850 or the New Agrarian Emancipation Act will benefit 610,054 ARBs who were granted lands under Presidential Decree No. 27, Republic Act 6657, as amended by RA 9700, and who have outstanding loan balance as of the effectivity of the act.
The bill specifically seeks to condone all principal and interests of loans from the award of agricultural lands under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP). Villar said farmers and farmworkers are waiting for the enactment of the measure, which will make possible their dream of receiving their land titles. “Without land in their name, our farmers cannot access credit as they lack collateral to secure the same,” Villar said. Once it is a law, ₱57.5-billion principal debt of 610,054 ARBs, tilling a total of 1,173,101.57 hectares of agrarian reform lands would be written off. According to Villar, the principal loan of ₱14.5-billion, including interests, penalties and surcharges of 263,622 ARBs, tilling 409,206.91 hectares of agrarian reform lands, whose names and other loan details were already submitted by the Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) to Congress, shall be condoned outright. The inclusion of the remaining ₱43.057-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, she said. Also, under the bill, all cases related to the nonpayment of loans of ARBs with the DAR shall be dismissed motu proprio; ARBs will also 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 said. Condoning farmers’ amortization “will (also) 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,” the senator stressed.