Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 12) — Beneficiaries of the Agrarian Emancipation Act will receive healthcare, livestock, and scholarships for their children apart from loan write-offs, the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) chief said Tuesday.
“When we say support services, it does not only mean farm-to-market roads. It does not only mean farm machinery, equipment, and other inputs, but [the services included] also addresses their health and even provides a scholarship for their children, additional livelihood packages,” Agrarian Reform Secretary Conrado Estrella III told CNN Philippines’ The Final Word.
Estrella said the services will be available to prompt payers and the beneficiaries whose loans were condoned. Early payers, however, will have priority access to the benefits.
The beneficiaries will be included in the Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture of the Department of Agriculture, allowing them to access government support services for farmers.
READ: Marcos signs New Agrarian Emancipation Act
According to the DAR chief, data scientists also suggested providing livestock aid.
“If we introduce livestock assistance to the farmers, like dairy cows and dairy buffaloes, they could also produce more milk and have additional income,” he said.
The newly signed Agrarian Emancipation Act – dubbed the “Happy Law” – writes off the amortization of principal payments, interests, and penalties of farmers on the lands they are tilling.
The law will benefit 610,054 farmers who owe the Land Bank of the Philippines a total sum of ₱57.56 billion, covering 1,173,101.575 hectares of agrarian reform lands.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said the Agrarian Emancipation Act, dubbed as the “Happy Law,” is a “very crucial” development in the country’s economy and food security. He also said it is “absolutely necessary.”
