House Speaker Martin Romualdez (Speaker’s office)



House Speaker Martin Romualdez is still on a high following the signing of the New Agrarian Emancipation Act, which he calls a "legacy legislation" of the 19th Congress. “This is why I am proud to be a part of the 19th Congress that crafted and passed the New Agrarian Emancipation Act. It is indeed a ‘legacy legislation’ that will benefit not only the beneficiaries of the agrarian reform program but their families, their communities and the whole nation as well,” Romualdez said in a statement Monday, July 10. On Friday, July 7, President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. signed Republic Act (RA) No.11953, which effectively condoned P57.56 billion worth of debt from 610,054 agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) cultivating a total of 1.173 million hectares of land. These farmer-beneficiaries are all under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP). “Kung dati, ang lahat halos ng kinikita sa pagsasaka ng isang benepisyaryo ay napupunta lang sa pagbabayad ng utang at patong-patong na interes at wala nang natitira sa pamilya, ngayon magagamit na ito sa pag-aaral ng mga anak, pambili ng pagkain, gastos sa kalusugan o pampagawa ng bahay,” Speaker Romualdez said. According to Romualdez, RA No.11953 will allow farmers to set aside their hard-earned money for themselves and their families, instead of using it to pay for their CARP debts. “They can now dream big and persevere for the sake of their families. They have been spared from having to contend with indebtedness. Masarap mangarap para sa ating pamilya lalo na’t walang iniisip na problema (It's nice to dream with our families when you aren't distracted by problems),” the House leader from Leyte's 1st district said. Under the new law, the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) will issue certificates of condonation in favor of ARBs, which shall be annotated on the Emancipation Patent (EP) or Certificate of Land Ownership Award (CLOA), as the case may be. Then the condonation takes effect, and the appropriate Registry of Deeds shall register the EP, CLOA, or any other title pursuant to the applicable agrarian reform law, along with the annotation of the Notice of Condonation. “For me, this is the true intent of agrarian reform, for our farmers to own the land they till and for them to cultivate it without the burden of debt. It has now become a reality for more than 600,000 of our farmers with the signing of the law,” Romualdez said. Romualdez is arguably Marcos' top ally in the legislature.