THE House of Representatives has approved on third and final reading a bill condoning all unpaid interests, penalties and surcharges on loans obtained by farmers, fisherfolk and agrarian reform beneficiaries from government agencies.
With an overwhelming 271 votes, congressmen on Tuesday night approved House Bill (HB) No. 5702 or the “Agrarian and Agricultural Loan Restructuring and Condonation Act,” which is expected to benefit hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of farmers and fishermen.
The bill covers loans from the Department of Agrarian Reform, Department of Agriculture, People’s Credit and Finance Corporation, Cooperative Development Authority, National Food Authority, and Quedan and Rural Credit Guarantee Corporation.
Negros Oriental Rep. Arnie Teves, a principal author of the bill, expressed confidence that the measure would also hurdle the Senate “without hindrance for the much-needed immediate support for the overburdened farmers and fisherfolk due to the ballooning interests of their loans.”
Teves said President Marcos Jr., during his first State of the Nation Address (SONA), gave special mention to the agricultural sector as one of the main drivers of his administration’s push for growth and employment and even committed to increase agricultural production and to drive the sector toward modernization.
Teves also said that the President assured farmers and fishermen that credits and financial assistance to their sector would be one of the major advancements of his administration.
To achieve this, Teves added, the President also promised that the government would provide not only financial but also technical assistance to the agricultural sector.
“This measure will facilitate reintegration into the financial and banking system of the farmers, fisherfolk and agrarian reform beneficiaries and will give them access to new government credit programs,” Teves said.
The lawmaker pointed out that the farmers, fishermen and ARBs and their respective cooperatives or associations have been burdened for a long time due to ballooning interests, penalties, and surcharges to the loans they availed from government agencies.
While the President had promised to provide them loans and financial assistance to boost production and food security, Teves said some cooperatives “might not be able to avail such if they don’t have good credit standing, thus I am pushing for the immediate approval of this measure.”
Speaker Martin Romualdez said among those covered by HB 5702 are beneficiaries of the original agrarian reform program of the government, which the late President Ferdinand Marcos Sr. launched through Presidential Decree No. 27, entitled “Decreeing the emancipation of tenants from the bondage of the soil, transferring the ownership of the land they till and providing the instruments and mechanism therefor,” which was issued on Oct. 21, 1972.
The bill provides that after the condonation of interests, penalties and surcharges, the loans would be restructured and the good credit standing of farmers, fisherfolk and agrarian reform beneficiaries would be restored, provided that they have made three consecutive payments on their reshaped borrowings.
Those covered would be required to file an application for condonation with the agencies from which they obtained their loans.
Also covered are cooperatives registered with the CDA, and farmers’ and agrarian reform beneficiaries’ organizations that have secured loans from the six agencies.
The bill states that the write-off would be based on “force majeure” and “market aberrations” so refusal to pay would not qualify an applicant for condonation.
