Marcos signs New Agrarian Emancipation Act

President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. on Friday signed the New Agrarian Emancipation Act, which will condone the amortization of principal payments, interest and penalties on land tilled by farmers.

The new law, or the Republic Act No. 11953, will benefit 610,054 agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) as it writes off P57,557 billion of their loans.

These farmers were tilling a total of 1,173,101.57 hectares of agrarian reform lands

“Upon the effectivity of this Act, the individual loans of ARBs, including interests, penalties and surcharges, secured under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) or from other agrarian reform programs or laws, are hereby condoned and written off by the government, thereby relieving them from the burden,” the law stated.

Under the new law, the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) shall move for the dismissal of all actions pending with the courts relating to the collection of unpaid principal and interests over agricultural lands covered by agrarian reform laws.

In his speech during the signing of the law, Marcos mentioned that it was the dream of his father, the late President Ferdinand Marcos Sr., to give Filipino farmers a better life.

"Let us work together to realize this dream — our dream, as it was my father's dream — to give every Filipino farmer and his or her family, a life beyond mere survival; a life free from want, from hunger, or fear of the future; a life of dignity, abundance and prosperity," he said.

Marcos expressed belief that genuine agrarian emancipation requires more than just the distribution of land but also providing assistance and services to the farmers.

"If there was a very important lesson that Lolo Condring Estrella and my father, then the President, learned was that the handing of titles to our agrarian reform beneficiaries is but the first step," he said.

"Free land distribution must go hand-in-hand with broadening the provision of credit facilities and support services in the form of farm inputs, equipment and facilities to our farmers, as well as the construction of more farm-to-market roads. These efforts will yield more sustainable farms and higher incomes for our farmers," Marcos added.

In a press conference following the signing, Marcos emphasized the significance of the new law in aiding the country's farmers, saying that this will also be a big help to the agriculture sector.

"We cannot overstate the importance of what we have done today, not only for the agrarian reform beneficiaries who have been waiting for some relief for a very very long time. We have been talking about this for a decade. Everyone seemed to agree that it was time for us to look very closely on the financial situation not of the banks, not of the financing institutions, but of our farmers," Marcos said.

"Agriculture is an important part and that's what this does, we are recognizing and bringing into the whole system of our economy, our agrarian reform beneficiaries, giving them a livelihood, giving their families hope for the future, but also the support that we in government and the rest of the country needs," he added.

When it comes to ensuring food security, Marcos said he believes that this new law would also help the country's food production.

The DAR also said the government would assume the obligation of 10,201 agrarian reform beneficiaries who are tilling 11,531.24 hectares of land.

The government will also pay the remaining balance of the direct compensation due the landowners under the Voluntary Land Transfer (VLT) or the Direct Payment Scheme (DPS) amounting to P206,247,776.41.

The new law states that the land awarded to agrarian reform beneficiaries would be excluded from gross estate for purposes of estate taxes.

Agrarian reform beneficiaries shall refer to farmers or farmworkers who were granted lands under Presidential Decree No. 27, Republic Act No. 6657, as amended, and Republic Act No. 9700, and who have outstanding loan balances payable to the Land Bank of the Philippines and to private landowners as of the effectivity of the Act.

Agrarian Reform Secretary Conrado Estrella III said the New Agrarian Emancipation Act is a huge step in achieving the Marcos administration's goal of food security for the country.

It will also give importance to the farmers whom Filipinos depend on for their daily nourishment, Estrella added. —KBK, GMA Integrated News