QUEZON CITY -- President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. has vowed to continue the implementation of the agrarian reform program during his term as he delivered his first State of the Nation Address (SONA), on Monday, July 25.
“Agrarian reform is not only about acquisition but also about support services and distribution,” Marcos Jr. said
Marcos Jr. announced that he will issue an Executive Order (EO) to impose a one-year moratorium on the payment of land amortization and interest payments by agrarian reform beneficiaries.
“A moratorium will give the farmers the ability to channel their resources in developing their farms, maximizing their capacity to produce and propel the growth of our economy,” Marcos Jr. said.
He urged Congress to pass a law to amend Section 26 of Republic Act No. 6657 to free the agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) from their debts where loans of ARBs with unpaid amortization and interest will be condoned.
"The purpose of this law is to erase the unpaid debts of our farmers who are beneficiaries of the agrarian reform," he added.
Marcos Jr. also promised the ARBs who are still to receive their awarded lands under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) will no longer have to pay any amortization for their lands.
He said the proposed condonation will cover a total amount of P58.125 billion that would benefit 654,000 ARBs involving a total of 1.18 million hectares of awarded lands.
On Executive Order No. 75, Series of 2019, where all government agencies, agencies, bureaus, departments, and instrumentalities are required to turn over agricultural lands to qualified ARBs, Marcos Jr. said that at present, there are a total of 52,000 hectares of unused agricultural lands of the government which can be distributed in accordance with Section 14 of RA 6657 as amended.
He said that priorities for distribution will be landless war veterans, landless surviving spouses or orphans of war veterans, landless retirees of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, and the Philippine National Police.
“Agricultural lands acquired under this program will be given to graduates of college degrees in agriculture who are landless,” Marcos Jr. said.
He added that the country needs a new breed of farmers equipped with modern agricultural technology that is able to engage in sustained scientific farming to increase farm yields and are resilient in the face of climate change. (DAR)
