One of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.'s promises during his first State of the Nation Address in 2022 was to free farmers from debt.
The administration recently fulfilled one of its primary pledges to the people by signing Republic Act (RA) 11953, often known as the New Agrarian Emancipation Act. RA 11953 forgives all unpaid principal debt amortization, including interest and surcharges, incurred by agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARB).
The implementing rules and regulations, according to the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), will be available by September.
A total of P57.56 billion in overdue primary debt would be forgiven, benefiting 610,054 ARBs who farm 1.173 million hectares.
Conrado Estrella III, Agrarian Secretary, greeted the President and praised Congress for passing the bill.
Existing laws require ARBs to pay for land awards in annual installments with 6% interest for a maximum of 30 years.
The government would also accept the liability of 10,201 ARBs tilling 11,531.24 hectares of land to pay the remaining balance of direct compensation payable to the affected landowners under the Voluntary Land Transfer or Direct Payment Scheme in the amount of P 206,247,776.41 million.
