The Department of Agrarian Reform in Bicol region is supporting the initiative of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to pass a moratorium in the payment of loan amortizations for farmer-beneficiaries under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program.
Rodrigo Realubit, DAR’s provincial officer-in-charge, supports Secretary Conrado Estrella III to “actively” push for the condonation of loan payments and interest fees through a one-year moratorium as earlier announced by the President in his first State-of-the-Nation Address.
He believes that the condonation involving 650,000 farmers would surely boost their productivity.
Estrella earlier said the moratorium could set the precedent to a free land distribution of all farm lots under CARP once Republic Act 6657 is amended to emancipate the farmer-beneficiaries from debt burden.
“We are behind our secretary in pushing for the initiatives of the President for agrarian reform beneficiaries. We have readied all documents and statistics needed should the Congress and the Senate ask for them,” Realubit said.
“It’s a good strategic move by the president. It will provide the much-needed relief to our ARBs as they can now use the money, supposedly for land amortization, to invest it for their farm production instead,” he added.
According to Realubit, the condonation would involve billions of pesos that may be used to stimulate rural agricultural dynamics in remote areas.