President Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Marcos Jr. (Noel Pabalate/ MANILA BULLETIN)

Senators Francis ‘’Chiz’’ Escudero and Christopher ‘’Bong’’ Go on Saturday, July 8 lauded President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. for the expeditious signing of the New Agrarian Emancipation Law, which frees over 600,000 farmer-beneficiaries of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) from debts tied to land reform sponsored by the state.

”This is a historic day for our agrarian reform beneficiaries and a major leap forward for our agricultural sector," Go said.

Go is a member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture. He co-sponsored and co-authored Senate Bill (SB) No. 1850 - the Senate version of RA No. 11953, also known as the New Agrarian Emancipation Act.

The law condones all loans incurred by agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs), including interests, penalties and surcharges. 

Currently, up to 610,054 ARBs owe the Land Bank of the Philippines a total of P57.56 billion in loans. This covers 1,173,101.575 hectares of agrarian reform lands.

Go previously underscored the necessity of condoning agrarian reform-related debts. He also pushed for the provision of a better support mechanism for the country's agricultural workers.

"Forgiving their debts is just one aspect of the solution," Go said. 

"We are not saying that our food supply will be secure simply because their loans have been written off. They need further support from the government, more agricultural input to make them more competitive,” he added.

Escudero, for his part, explained that RA No.11953 would provide financial relief to thousands of ARBs who are struggling to make ends meet, “let alone pay the amortization, interests, penalties and other surcharges on lands they have acquired under the CARP".

RA No.11953 condones all the unpaid amortizations of the principal debt, including interests and surcharges, if any, incurred by the ARBs. A total of P57.56 billion unpaid principal debt will be condoned to benefit 610,054 ARBs tilling 1.173 million hectares of land.

The government will also assume the obligation of some 10,201 ARBs tilling 11,531.24 hectares of land to pay the remaining balance of the direct compensation due to the concerned landowners under the Voluntary Land Transfer or the Direct Payment Scheme amounting to P206,247,776.41.

Condonation frees the awarded lands from all mortgage liens in favor of the national government. The law also exempts ARBs from the payment of estate taxes.

Moreover, ARBs who fully paid their agrarian debt, will be given priority of access to credit facilities and support services and shall also be automatically included in the Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture or RSBSA of the Department of Agriculture (DA), thereby entitling them to all support services given to farmers by the department and other government agencies.