PRESIDENT Marcos Jr. yesterday extended by another two years, or until 2025, the moratorium on the collection of amortization and interest payments on agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) for lands awarded under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) that are not covered by the New Agrarian Reform Emancipation Act (NAEA).
The President signed Executive Order 40, entitled “Extending the Implementation of the Moratorium on the Payment of the Principal Obligation and Interest of the Amortization Due and Payable by Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries,” during the presentation of the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) on the Emancipation Act or Republic Act (RA) 11953.
Marcos first ordered the moratorium on the payment of principal debt and interests incurred by ARBs in September 2022, through EO 4, which covered a one-year period or from September 13, 2022 to September 14, 2023.
The latest moratorium, which will extend the moratorium until September 13, 2025, benefits approximately 129,059 beneficiaries who are tilling 158,209.94 hectares of land. These beneficiaries did not meet the cutoff date of July 24 for those who applied to be covered by debt condonation under the Emancipation Act.
“In light of the continuing disruptive effects of the pandemic, the new challenges posed by the ongoing crisis in Ukraine, and the pernicious effects of climate change, this administration finds it necessary to provide continuing economic relief to ARBs in order to assist them in the process of recovery and ensure food security in the country amidst these global uncertainties,” the EO read.
During a media interview, Marcos, asked about how the extension of the Agrarian Debt Moratorium enhances the capabilities of farmer beneficiaries, said this will provide relief to those who were not able to avail of the debt condonation.
“Right now, hindi sila nasama doon sa condonation… Sila ang matutulungan doon sa extension ng moratorium ng EO No. 4. (Right now, they are included in the condonation… they are the ones benefiting from the extension ng moratorium of EO No. 4),” Marcos said.
The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) said with the extension, the farmer beneficiaries will be able to use the funds intended for debt payment to farm inputs and equipment and eventually increase farm yields and their incomes.
Prior to the signing of EO, DAR Secretary Conrado Estrella III presented to the President the IRR on the Emancipation Act which will formally start the implementation of the condonation of all agrarian reform debt incurred by 610,054 ARBs who are tilling 1.173 million hectares of land and is estimated to worth P57.55 billion in debt.
The implementation of the NAEA also terminates the payment of P206.247 million in unpaid just compensation to the landowners by 10,201 ARBs who are tilling 11,531 hectares of land acquired through the Voluntary Land Transfer or the Direct Payment Scheme (VLT/DPS), and covers the outright condonation of debts of 263,622 ARBs, who are tilling some 409,206 hectares, who received loans under the Agrarian Reform Registry (ARR) of the Land Bank of the Philippines.
The Emancipation Act, signed into law on July 9, 2023, also exempts the ARBs from payment of estate tax, and their mandatory inclusion in the Registry System of Basic Sectors in Agriculture (RSBSA) to enable them easy access to support services of the Department of Agriculture.
The IRR also provides procedures to accelerate the processes of condonation of the agrarian debt and the payment by the government of unpaid just compensation to landowners for lands acquired under the VLT/DPS.
In receiving the IRR, the President called on everyone to support and take part in the implementation of the NAEA as he urged DAR, along with other concerned agencies, to strive for a smooth and immediate execution of the IRR to free the beneficiaries from the burden of debts and reap the benefits from the lands that they cultivate.
“Continue to facilitate the delivery of support services to all ARBs and make them your foremost priority in all our development efforts,” Marcos said as he also urged beneficiaries to utilize their lands well, “not only to cater to your families, but also for the rest of the nation.”
He also thanked those who worked hard in crafting the IRR, which he said is the best birthday gift that he received in his life. The President is celebrating his 66th birthday on September 13
Speaker Martin Romualdez welcomed the signing of EO 40. “The extension of the moratorium on the payment of the amortization and principal on the debt of our agrarian reform beneficiaries is a demonstration of the commitment of the administration of President Marcos to their welfare and the growth of our agricultural sector,” he said.
Romualdez also commended the DAR for submitting the IRR on the NAEA 15 days before the prescribed deadline, saying it “is a significant step towards fulfilling the promise of the New Agrarian Emancipation Act to uplift the life of our farmers, revitalize our agricultural sector, and provide affordable food for every family.”
A principal author of the bill, Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Raymund Villafuerte, said the President “has hit the gas on his landmark law that would truly liberate our agrarian reform beneficiaries from their CARP debts, thereby opening their access to rural credit and empowering them to make more productive a combined 1.17 million hectares (ha) of land that they have been tilling for decades.”
“It’s well-timed, given that it will lead to greater farm productivity at this period when weak harvests of palay and other farm crops have unduly jacked up the retail prices of these essential foodstuff, which, in turn, have caused headline inflation to rise anew in August following the government’s success in taming commodity price spikes over the January-July period,” he said.
Being freed from their unpaid amortizations, interests, surcharges and penalties on their decades-old CARP loans, Villafuerte said “farmer-beneficiaries of RA 11953 are sure to gain access to rural credit, thus enabling them to invest more in their croplands to improve their yields and incomes.” — With Wendell Vigilia
