President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos on Monday asked Congress to pass a law seeking to lift the burden off agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) who have loan dues so that they would no longer have to pay for their land.
"The condonation of the existing agrarian reform loan will cover the amount of PHP58.125 billion benefiting around 654,000 agrarian reform beneficiaries and involving a total of 1.18 million hectares of awarded lands," Marcos said during his first State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Monday, July 25.
Under Republic Act 6657, the law on agrarian reform, ARBs need to pay 30 annual payments at 6% interest per year for land awarded to them.
Likewise, the President also eyed a year-long moratorium on payments for land distributed under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP), noting that the amendment of Section 26 would lift the burden of the farmers from their loans and interests.
Section 26 deals with payments and interest rates for CARP land and holds that the Land Bank of the Philippines can move to recover CARP land if ARBs fail to pay amortization for three consecutive years.
"Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries who are still to receive their awarded land through the CARP shall receive it without any obligation for amortization," he said.
Marcos added that agrarian reform does not only cover acquisition but also supports services and distribution.
“To assist this, I intend to issue an executive order to impose a one-year moratorium on the payment of land amortization and interest payments,” he said.
