House bill to save farmers, fisherfolk from unpaid loans

MANILA, Philippines — Marginalized farmers and fisherfolk stand to get financial relief from the government to settle their unpaid loans through a bill passed on third and final reading by the House of Representatives.

House Bill 5702, one of nine bills passed this week, will provide restructuring and condoning of all interests, surcharges and other penalties of farmers and fishermen loans from government lending agencies.

Negros Oriental Rep. Arnolfo Teves Jr., one of the authors of the proposed Agrarian and Agricultural Loan Restructuring and Condonation Act, said the bill will help the agricultural sector become more productive.

Teves expressed confidence the measure would also hurdle the Senate to rescue farmers, fishermen and agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) and their respective cooperatives or associations burdened with ballooning interests, penalties and surcharges to the loans they took from government agencies.

“The President cares much about the farmers and the fisherfolk and promised to provide them loans and financial assistance to boost production and food security,” he said.

“However, some farmers cooperatives might not be able to avail such if they don’t have good credit standing, that is why I was pushing for the immediate approval of this measure,” added Teves, whose HB 2877 was integrated into this main bill.

Meanwhile, one of the other eight approved measures was House Bill (a consolidation of 13 related measures) which will give 1.6 million workers in government the choice to retire early (optional) at age 56 instead of the current 60.

“They can opt to quit working, receive their benefits, do other activities, and enjoy life in retirement with their loved ones even before they become senior citizens,” Speaker Martin Romualdez said of HB 206.

Retirement in government service is compulsory at age 65; and 70, for officials of the judiciary, from Supreme Court justices and Court of Appeals magistrates, down to regional trial court and municipal circuit trial court judges.

Other proposed measures to reach the Senate are HB 6505 which extends state-owned IBC Channel 13’s legislative franchise for another 25 years; and HB 6630, the Local Universities and Colleges Governance Act.

HB 6572, the Public Schools of the Future in Technology Act and HB 6574, the Basic Educational Mental Health and Well-Being Act for depressed students, were also passed by the House.

The same goes for HB 6579, which mandates the creation of five more regional trial courts in Metro Manila that will be stationed in Muntinlupa City; HB 6587, which establishes four additional RTC branches in Tacloban City; and HB 6680, which will provide full insurance coverage to all “qualified beneficiaries” of the government’s Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program; and Joint Resolution 14, which extends until July 2032 the lifespan of the Congressional Oversight Committee on Dangerous Drugs.