CONDONED. An agrarian reform beneficiary receives his Certificate of Condonation with Release of Mortgage (COCRoM) from President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on Friday (Sept. 13, 2024) in Palanan City, Nueva Ecija. At least 6,000 ARBs were relieved from paying their debts and obligations on agricultural lands awarded under the agrarian reform program. (Photo screengrab from RTVM Facebook page)
MANILA – The government condoned 6,000 agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) in Nueva Ecija of their PHP277 million debts and obligations on agricultural lands awarded under the agrarian reform program on Friday during the celebration of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s birthday.
The President led the distribution of 9,832 Certificates of Condonation with Release of Mortgage (COCRoM) covering 10,450 hectares of agricultural lands in Nueva Ecija.
Ten selected ARBs officially received their COCRoM from the President during the activity in Palayan City.
“Simula ngayon, magbabago ang buhay ng anim na libong magsasaka dito sa inyong lugar (Starting today, the lives of six thousand farmers in your area will change),” Marcos said in his speech.
“Sa tulong nito, maiibsan ang bigat ng inyong mga pasanin at magkakaroon ang lahat ng pagkakataong makabangon at makapagsimulang muli (With the help of this, the weight of your burdens will be eased and everyone will have a chance to get up and start over),” he said.
Agrarian Reform Secretary Conrado Estrella III said these certificates exempt the ARBs from estate tax and include them in the Department of Agriculture’s (DA) Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture.
The activity, he said, serves as a tangible expression of the administration’s commitment to completely relieve the ARBs from financial burden, in line with the full implementation of Republic Act (RA) No. 11953 or the New Agrarian Emancipation Act (NAEA), signed last year.
The law will benefit around 600,000 farmers nationwide, covering more than 1.7 million hectares of agrarian reform lands.
Nueva Ecija, known as the Rice Granary of the Philippines, produced 1,839,859 metric tons of palay in 2023.
Meanwhile, apart from the COCRoM, President Marcos and Estrella also handed PHP41 million worth of agri-credit checks to 480 ARBs, representing 12 ARB organizations in the province.
Symbolic checks were also distributed to five select Accessible Loan for Empowered, Resilient, and Transformed (ALERT) agrarian reform beneficiary organizations (ARBOs). (PNA)
