SPEAKER Martin Romualdez yesterday said the newly signed Republic Act (RA) No. 11953, or the New Agrarian Emancipation Act, would help attain rice sufficiency as farmers are expected to produce more rice and other crops.
Romualdez said most of the more than 610,000 beneficiaries of the new law and who are tilling about 1.1 million hectares of land are rice farmers.
“Now that our farmers will soon be free of debt, I hope that they will be able to increase their produce to at least 100 50-kilo bags per hectare, from the present 60 to 70 cavans.
But of course, the government will have to help along the way,” he said.
R.A. No. 11953 writes off “all principal loans, unpaid amortization and interests” of 610,054 agrarian reform beneficiaries from the time of the late President Marcos Sr. up to the present.
Such unpaid obligations are estimated to amount to about P58 billion.
The law also exempts from estate tax all agricultural lands awarded under land reform reforms under a succession of governments since the first Marcos administration.
It likewise provides that the government will assume the P206.2 million owed by 10,201 agrarian reform beneficiaries to owners of the land they till and which is covered by voluntary land transfer-direct payment scheme under the agrarian reform program.
The Speaker said erasing the agrarian reform beneficiaries’ debts is just the initial step in assisting them to attain better productivity, improve their lives and achieve rice sufficiency for the country.
“The next step is aiding them to those objectives by providing them with or giving them access to credit, technology, equipment, inputs, and other vital support services. Let us leave them to fend for themselves,” he said.
Leyte Rep. Richard Gomez, one of the law’s authors, said the measure would surely help “improve the plight of our farmers and give the needed boost to the agriculture industry and ensure food security to our nation.”
“I am looking forward to the implementation of this law. This gives hope to our farmers that soon, they will be the rightful owners of the lands that they have been tilling for decades, and that they would no longer be bound to serve and kowtow to the demands of wealthy landowners,” he said.
Gomez is the author of House Bill No. 5314, which was among the bills considered by the House of Representatives before passing its version of the measure.
Ako Bicol party-list Rep. Elizaldy Co, chair of the House committee on appropriations, said that by condoning the debts of farmers, the new law “provides them with a fresh start and the opportunity to improve their livelihoods.”
Co said the law will not only liberate farmers from the burden of agrarian debt since it will also provide them with broader support services and credit facilities.
“The Marcos administration has significantly bolstered the resources available to farmers,” he said. “These resources will enable farmers to enhance the productivity of their farms and improve their quality of life.”
The Speaker called on concerned agencies, principally the Department of Agrarian Reform, Department of Agriculture and National Irrigation Authority, to make sure that farmers receive the support services they need.
“Irrigation is as important as credit and farm inputs in increasing the farmers’ produce.
Without irrigation, our rice farming sector will not be able to improve from 60-70 cavans per hectare,” he said.
Romualdez also urged these agencies to monitor individually the agrarian reform beneficiaries covered by the new law and other farmers.
“Since they have the exact number, which is 610,054 tilling 1.173 million hectares, I am assuming that these agencies know them. So let us check on them every now and then to ask them what assistance they need, how are they doing,” he said.
