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Republic of the Philippines 
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
Quezon City 
19th CONGRESS 
First Regular Session 
HOUSE BILL NO.  ____ 
___________________________________________________________________________ 
Introduced by REP. BERNADETTE “DETTE” G. ESCUDERO 
___________________________________________________________________________ 
AN ACT 
PROVIDING FOR THE CONDONATION OF ALL UNPAID PRINCIPAL, 
INTERESTS, PENALTIES OR SURCHARGES ON LOANS SECURED BY 
AGRARIAN REFORM BENEFICIARIES UNDER THE COMPREHENSIVE 
AGRARIAN REFORM PROGRAM AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES 
EXPLANATORY NOTE 
Securing payment for loans acquired through the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform 
Program has been one of the most problematic aspects of implementing land reform in the 
country. On the one hand, prohibitive administrative cost has impeded the establishment of an 
effective system to collect loan amortization especially from farmers residing in far-flung areas. 
On the other hand, farmer-beneficiaries are bereft of means to actually pay for the loans they 
have secured due to factors such as escalating cost of farm inputs, stagnating farmgate prices, 
and the inherent vulnerability of agricultural products and activities to natural hazards like 
typhoons, earthquake, and volcanic eruptions, among others. These conditions create a scenario 
that could lead to systemic loan arrearages – where the government could only open limited 
channels to accept loan payments from farmer-beneficiaries who have no money to pay for the 
loans in the first place.  
Compounding the problem of low collection rate is the diminutive amount of the actual 
principal payment that needs to be collected. During the committee deliberations of the 
proposed measures that would be consolidated into House Bill No. 6815 or the Accelerated 
Recovery and Investment Stimulus for the Economy (ARISE) of the Philippines Act, Rep. Joey 
Salceda estimated that the value of non-performing agrarian reform loans covering some 1.23 
million hectares of land owned and 682,000 agrarian reform beneficiaries, would be about 
P58.62 billion. While the amount is still staggering, this is equivalent to only 26.01% of the 
projected personal and corporate income tax revenues to be forgone in a single fiscal year under 
the Republic Act No. 10963 or the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Law 
and the Republic Act No. 11534 or the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises 
(CREATE) Law. 
If the government could absorb P225.34 billion revenue loss in a single year to provide 
tax relief for middle class or to attract foreign investors, then it should be able to absorb a 
fraction of that amount to provide relief to thousands of struggling agrarian reform beneficiaries 
and to move one step close to achieving our food security objectives.  
July 26, 2022
6:22 pm
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Drawing from the wisdom of related measures filed before this Congress, this bill hopes 
to fulfill two specific objectives. First, it seeks to provide farmers with additional resources by 
condoning annual amortization and interests, including penalties or surcharges, if any; and by 
improving farmer’s access to credit through the resolution of the ownership of awarded lands. 
Second, it reduces the cost of administering the land reform program by eliminating the need 
to collect amortization from agrarian reform beneficiaries.  
Ultimately, the proposed measure aims to accomplish the objectives of the 
Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law, which include improving the lives of farmers, reducing 
rural poverty and accelerating rural development. As a distinguished Filipino economist has 
noted, a good stimulus for agriculture is for the government to write off its minuscule agrarian 
reform collectible. 
To aid in the realization of genuine reforms in the agricultural sector, the swift passage 
of this measure is earnestly sought. 
BERNADETTE “DETTE” G. ESCUDERO 


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Republic of the Philippines 
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
Quezon City 
19th CONGRESS 
First Regular Session 
HOUSE BILL NO.  ____ 
___________________________________________________________________________ 
Introduced by REP. BERNADETTE “DETTE” G. ESCUDERO 
___________________________________________________________________________ 
AN ACT 
PROVIDING FOR THE CONDONATION OF ALL UNPAID PRINCIPAL, 
INTERESTS, PENALTIES OR SURCHARGES ON LOANS SECURED BY 
AGRARIAN REFORM BENEFICIARIES UNDER THE COMPREHENSIVE 
AGRARIAN 
REFORM 
PROGRAM 
AND 
FOR 
OTHER 
PURPOSES 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress 
assembled: 
Section 1. Condonation of Unpaid Amortizations, Interest Payments, Penalties or 
Surcharges. – All unpaid principal and interests, including penalties or surcharges, if any, due 
from loans used for land acquisition secured under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform 
Program are hereby condoned by the Government, thereby relieving all farmer-beneficiaries 
from the payment thereof: Provided, That the condonation of such all unpaid principal, 
interests, penalties or surcharges, shall be in conformity with the applicable banking laws and 
regulations of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas: Provided, further, That upon the effectivity of 
this Act, the Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) shall issue the certification necessary to 
facilitate the issuance of a certificate of land title ownership in favor of the agrarian reform 
beneficiary concerned: Provided, finally, That the condonation of all unpaid principal, interests, 
penalties or surcharges shall release all attached liens and encumbrances arising from the loans 
secured for land acquisition. 
Sec. 2. Implementing Rules and Regulations. – Within thirty (30) days from the 
effectivity of this Act, the Department of Agrarian Reform, in coordination with the Philippine 
Agrarian Reform Council, Department of Finance and the LBP, shall promulgate the necessary 
rules and regulations to effectively implement the provisions of this Act. 
Sec. 3. Repealing Clause. – Section 26 of Republic Act No. 6657, as amended, 
otherwise known as the “Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law of 1988” is hereby repealed. 
All laws, decrees, orders, rules and regulations or parts thereof inconsistent with any of the 
provisions of this Act are hereby repealed, amended or modified accordingly. 
Sec. 4. Effectivity Clause. - 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,
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