Marcos erases P1 billion agrarian debts of 21,000 Isabela farmers

MANILA, Philippines — President Marcos yesterday distributed at least 25,000 certificates of condonation and release of mortgage (CoCRoM), erasing the P1 billion in agrarian debts of 21,000 farmers in Isabela.

“Covered by these certificates are almost 22,000 hectares of agricultural lands in Isabela, equivalent to at least P1 billion debts that we are erasing,” Marcos said during his speech at Josefina Albano Cultural Sports Complex in Cabagan, Isabela.

The President added that with the CoCRoM, the farmers will no longer pay for the amortization of their lands.

“You will only worry on how to cultivate your lands and make them productive,” Marcos added.

Republic Act 11953, or the New Agrarian Emancipation Act, erases all unpaid principal amortizations, interests and surcharges on agricultural lands awarded under the government’s agrarian reform program.

Agrarian Reform Secretary Conrado Estrella III has said the government targets to distribute at least 300,000 CoCRoMs before the end of the year.

At the same time, Marcos also distributed more than 450 Certificate of Land Ownership Award to more than 340 farmer beneficiaries in the province.

“This covers at least 500 hectares of lands in Isabela,” he said.

During his speech, Marcos announced the distribution of P25 million in indemnity checks to 1,400 beneficiaries in Mindoro who were affected by the recent typhoons.

“I am encouraging our farmers to enroll under the program of our Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation to ensure the protection of your livelihood against calamities,” he added.

Not a ‘charity sector’

Meanwhile, farmers’ group Philippine Chamber of Agriculture and Food Inc. (PCAFI) said the government should not treat the agriculture industry as a charity sector, as it appealed for a level playing field amid the flooding of imported farm products in the country.

PCAFI president Danilo Fausto said that providing cheap food for consumers and fighting inflation through imports is a short-term solution, after Marcos issued Executive Order 62, which lowered the tariff on imported rice to 15 percent from the previous 35 percent.

“Our government should treat our agriculture sector not as a charity sector of our society, but as a good and profitable business proposition. Government should provide the right environment and incentives for the private sector to invest, expand their production, value chain and supply chain logistics, not kill them with competition from cheap and subsidized imported products,” Fausto said.

He added that producing the country’s own food requirements, although a much longer process, will be more sustainable for the people.

“We appeal for a level playing field from the government. Doing otherwise, we will be shooting ourselves, not on the foot, but on the head. It goes without saying that if we allow others to feed us, we are giving them the authority to starve us,” Fausto said.

He added that the National Expenditure Program continues to give agriculture a low priority.

“For 2024, the Department of Agriculture and attached corporations and the Department of Agrarian Reform received a budget of P221.7 billion out of the total budget of P5.768 trillion. For 2025, the agriculture budget is seen to be further reduced to P211.3 billion despite the 10-percent increase in the total budget of P6.352 trillion,” Fausto said.

He said what aggravated the situation is making the agriculture budget rice-centric, as evidenced by the wide disparity in the allocation of the budget for 2024, where the staple is getting 60 percent of the total agriculture budget while contributing only 23 percent of the total agriculture output.

Fausto said high-value crops, which contribute 33.78 percent of the total agriculture output, got a measly 2.6 percent of the total agriculture budget. The livestock sector received 3.1 percent of the budget while contributing 30 percent to the total agriculture output.

“We need to feed more and more people as we grow by 1.8 to 1.9 percent in our population versus our growth in agricultural production of only 1.2 percent at the end of 2023 and on a year-on year decline of -2.8 percent for the third quarter of 2024. It’s time to switch to sustainable farming practices and new food sources,” Fausto said.