Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Nineteenth Congress
First Regular Session
HouseBi||No.52_7__4
Introduced by: Representative LORDAN G. SUAN
AN ACT EMANCIPATING AGRARIAN REFORM BENEFICIARIES THROUGH CONDONATI0N
0F ALL AMORTIZATIONS, INTERESTS, AND PENALTIES AND CANCELLATION 0F
ENCUMBRANCES UNDER THE COMPREHENSIVE AGRARIAN REFORM PROGRAM
APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFOR, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES
EXPLANATORY NOTE
Agrarian reform is fundamentally based on the principles of social justice. It is a tool
to  address  social  and  economic  inequality;  significantly  reduce,  if not  totally  eradicate
exploitation  of a marginalized sector;  enhance the rights  of people to human dignity;  and
improve the lives of  the disadvantaged. The Supreme Court aptly worded it in its decision
•\n the  case  o£ Association  of Small  Landowners  in  the  Philippines v.  Secretary  of Agrarian
Re/orm  [175 SCRA 343(1989)], "By the decision we reach today, all major legal obstacles to
the  comprehensive  agrarian reform  program  are removed, to  clear the way for the true
freedom of the farmer. We may now glimpse the day he will be released not only from want
but  also  from  the  exploitation  and  disdain  of  the  past  and  from  his  own  feelings  of
inadequacy and helplessness. At last his servitude will be ended forever, At last the farm on
which he toils will be his farm, It will be his portion of the Mother Earth that will give him
not only the staff of life but also the joy of living, And where once it bred for him only deep
despair, now can he see in it the fruition of his hopes for a more fulfilling future. Now at last
can  he  banish  from  his  small  plot  of  earth  his  insecurities  and  dark  resentments  and
"rebuild in it the music and the dream,"
However,  four  decades  after  the  first  agrarian  reform  program  was  introduced,
600,000+  hectares  remain  undistributed,  From  1972  until  today,  the  support  services
provided  by  law  for  agrarian  reform  beneficiaries  to  productively  cultivate  their  lands,
remain inadequate, Forty years passed and 654,000 farmer-beneficiaries remain burdened
by  amortizations,  interest  payments  and  penalties.  Some  have  already  lost  their  land-
award by non-payment of agrarian reform loans.


The hope  of seeing  a brighter  future  for their  families  is  slowly  fading  away,  The
once colorful dream has lost its luster and promise.
This  proposed  measure  seeks  to  rescue  our  agrarian  reform  beneficiaries  from
falling  into  a  spiral  downward  of  debt,  This  measure  aims  to  unshackle  the  chain  of
agrarian reform loans that incapacitates them to till the land and enjoy its fruits. By way of
condonation  of  all  their  amortizations,   interest  payments  and  penalties  including  the
restoration of awards cancelled due to non-payment of financial obligations, we will be able
to  ensure  their  upward mobility and  capacitate them to become drivers  of our country's
economic growth.
In view of the foregoing and in consonance with the social justice principles  stated
in our Constitution, the passage of this Bill is earnestly sought.


Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE 0F REPRESENTATIVES
Nineteenth Congress
First Regular Session
Ho;seBi||Nb,527_4
Introduced by: Representative LORDAN G. SUAN
AN ACT EMANCIPATING AGRARIAN REFORM BENEFICIARIES THROUGH CONDONATION
0F ALL THEIR AMORTIZATIONS, INTEREST PAYMENTS, AND PENALTIES, AND
CANCELI.ATI0N 0F ENCUMBRANCES UNDER THE COMPREHENSIVE AGRARIAN REFORM
PROGRAM, APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFOR, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress
assembled:
SECTION   1,   Short   T]tJe.   -   This   Act   shall   be   known   as   the   "Agrarian   Reform
Beneficiaries Emancipation Act."
SECTloN   Z.   Condonation   of   Amortizations,    Interest   Payments,   Penalties,    and
Cc]nce//cIci.on    o/  Er}cumbrcmces   -    Unpaid    amortizations,   interest   payments    including
penalties,   and   encumbrances,   if   any,    of   Agrarian   Reform   Beneficiaries   under   the
Comprehensive  Agrarian  Reform  Program  or  from  other  agrarian  reform  programs  are
hereby  condoned  and  cancelled,  thereby,  amending  Section  26  of Republic  Act  6657,  as
amended, and the pertinent provisions of other agrarian reform laws. The Landbank of the
Philippines  shall issue a certification  of condonation  and cancellation, which shall be used
to  facilitate the issuance  of land title  ownership to Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries without
prejudice to Section 27 of RA 6657, as amended, on transferability of awarded lands.
Provided, further, that all Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries  (ARBs) who have yet to be
awarded of their lands shall receive them free of any amortization.
For   purposes   of  this   Act,   Agrarian   Reform   Beneficiaries   refer   to   farmers   or
farmworkers who were granted lands  or about to be awarded lands, as the case may be,
under Presidential Decree No. 27, the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law (RA 6657), and


Republic Act No, 9700 or the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Extension with Reform, and
who have unpaid amortizations, interest payments, penalties, and encumbrances.
SECTION  3.  Covernmen£  Scr/Ggwczrd.  -  All  agricultural  lands  awarded  to  Agrarian
Reform Beneficiaries shall  not be converted to non-agricultural  use within a ten-year (10)
holding   period.   The   ten-year   holding   period   shall   commence   upon   the   issuance   of
Certificate of Land Ownership Award (CLOA).
SECTloN 4. Termination Of Payment under Voluntary Land Transfer. -  The payment
of compensation by Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries to the landowners under the voluntary
land  transfer  scheme  shall  be  terminated,  thereby  amending  Section  20  of Republic  Act
6657, as amended. The remaining balance of compensation due to landowners shall be paid
by   the   government  through   the  Agrarian   Reform   Fund,   Provided,   further,   that   the
remaining payments  in kind due to  landowners  shall be monetized as  determined  by the
Landbank  of the  Philippines,  without  prejudice  to  the  right  of the  landowners  for  just
compensation.
SECTloN  5.  Additional  Support  Services  to  Agrarian  Reform  Beneficiaries.  -  The
Presidential Agrarian Reform Council  (PARC)  shall ensure that additional support services
and assistance on education, financial literacy, disaster management and resiliency, access
to  value  chain,  social  enterprise,  cooperative  development,  environmental  protection  and
legal assistance be given to Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries, thereby amending Section 37 of
Republic Act 6657, as amended,
SECTION  6.  CcmcG//afl.on  o/For/ei.fure Proceed/.ngs.  -All  pending administrative  or
judicial  forfeiture  proceedings  involving  delinquency  of amortizations,  interest payments
and  penalties  pursuant  to  Section  26   of  Republic  Act  6657,  as  amended,  are  hereby
cancelled. The executions  of final  and executory administrative or judicial  forfeiture cases
on amortizations, and interest and penalty payment delinquencies are, likewise, cancelled,
All  agrarian  reform  awards  and  titles  cancelled  as  a  result  of  final  administrative  and
judicial forfeiture proceedings shall be restored and reconstituted.
SECTION   7.   /mp/emenc!'ng   fiu/es   c]ncJ   j3egLf/c]fJ.ons,-   The   Department   of  Agrarian
Reform  (DAR), with the assistance of the Presidential Agrarian Reform Council  (PARC)  and
the  Landbank  of the  Philippines  (LBP)  shall  formulate the  necessary Implementing  Rules
and Regulations (IRR) within thirty (30) days from the effectivity of this Act.
SECTION 8. FLmdl.ng.  - The fund necessary for the implementation of this Act shall
be included in the annual budget of the Department of Agrarian Reform,
SECTION 9. Separabi./I.ty C/cluse.  - In the event that any provision of this Act or any
part hereof is declared invalid or unconstitutional, the provisions not hereby affected shall
remain in full force and effect,


SECTION  10.  Repea/I.ng  CJcrL/se.  -All  laws,  decrees,  orders,  rules  and  regulations  or
parts  thereof,  inconsistent  with  or  contrary  to  the  provisions  of this  Act  are  repealed,
amended or modified, accordingly.
SECTION  11. E#gcc!'vi.ty C/c!L/sc.  -This Act shall take effect fifteen  (15)  days  after its
publication in the Official Gazette or in at least two (2) newspapers of general circulation.
Approved,