SENATE majority leader Joel Villanueva is pushing for the passage of a measure that will create a social security and pension benefit program for farmers and fisherfolk to recognize their hard work in nation-building.
In filing Senate Bill No. 244, Villanueva said farmers and fisherfolk also deserve the social security and pension benefits given to employees when they retire.
“It has been said that a farmer works so the nation can eat. This is how crucial our farmers are in securing food and driving national development. There is an urgent need to safeguard their welfare through policies that mitigate their socio-economic risks and vulnerabilities,” Villanueva said.
He said the proposed measure seeks to establish the “Farmers and Fisherfolk Social Security and Pension Program” that will provide sickness, maternity, disability, retirement, death, and funeral benefits to the sector.
Villanueva said the program will be integrated and made consistent with the package of benefits under the Social Security System (SSS) and relevant programs of the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation (PCIC).
The SSS will be tasked to manage the funds allocated and the social security and pension plan of the program, and maintain the required actuarial and financial reports.
The PCIC shall manage the registration system of eligible beneficiaries under the Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture and maintain the required operational reports.
Villanueva said the initial fund of the program shall come from the national government savings, while the succeeding funds for its continuous implementation shall be sourced from 10 percent of the total annual duties collected from the importation of agricultural products, and from the annual budget of the DA.
He said farmers and fisherfolk comprise around 20.6 percent of the country’s labor force, while in 2014, agriculture, forestry, and fishing accounted for eight percent of the Philippines’ gross domestic product.
“In real terms, using constant 2018 prices, its gross value added stood at P1.78 trillion, a testament to its continued relevance amid an increasingly service-driven economy. Yet despite its economic weight, the sector’s productivity has failed to lift the fortunes of those who toil within it. Farmers and fisherfolk remain among the poorest in the country,” he said, as he cited 2023 data from the Philippine Statistics Authority, which showed that poverty incidence among farmers stood at 27 percent, while it was at 27.4 percent for fisherfolk.
He said providing the social benefit program could possibly entice the farmers’ and fisherfolk’s children to pursue agriculture amid reports that 73 percent of farmers are convinced that their children would face bleak prospects if they followed in their footsteps.
