CONCEPCION, Tarlac (Sept. 19, 2023) — Congressman Noel ‘Bong’ Rivera praised the passage of Republic Act 11953 or the New Agrarian Emancipation Act which condones the debts of farmers.
Rep. Rivera is one of the authors of the bill that was signed into law by President Bongbong Marcos and its Implementing Rules and Regulations approved recently.
According to Rep. Rivera of the Tarlac Third Congressional District, the welfare of farmers in the district pushed him to become one of the authors of such a law.
“The Third District of Tarlac is mainly an agriculture economy and as such the passage of RA 11953 is a huge relief to Department of Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries, especially in the towns of Capas, Concepcion, La Paz, and Bamban,” Rep. Rivera said.
The Emancipation Act freed more than 600,000 farmers from debt. The Act complements the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program, which condones farmers with awarded lands from amortizations managed by the Land Bank of the Philippines, including interest and surcharges.
About 610,054 agrarian reform beneficiaries farming on 1,173,101.575 hectares of land are seen to benefit from this law. The national government will pay the remaining balance of the direct compensation due the landowners under the Voluntary Land Transfer or the Direct Payment Scheme amounting to ₱206.2 million. The law covers ₱57.56 billion in agrarian arrears.
