REALITY CHECK: What ‘debt condonation’ means for Filipino farmers

MANILA – In his fourth State of the Nation Address, Ferdinand Marcos Jr said, “Kasalukuyang pinapabilis ng DAR ang pamamahagi ng mga CLOA at mga e-title pati na ang mga COCROM bilang patunay na wala nang utang ang mga benepisyaryo ng agrarian reform.”

(DAR is fast-tracking the distribution of CLOA and e-title, as well as COCROM as proof that agrarian reform beneficiaries have been freed from debt.)

Indeed, the New Agrarian Emancipation Act (NAEA) enacted in 2023 provides for the condonation of the P57.557 billion principal debt of 610,054 agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs), covering over 1.17 million hectares of agrarian reform lands. 

However, based on monitoring by the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP), the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) has reached only 14 percent of its target beneficiaries for distribution of Certificate of Condonation with Release of Mortgage (COCROM), covering six percent of total registered farmers. 

Having been awarded COCROM or even certificate of land ownership award (CLOA) does not guarantee the farmers’ control of the land. In fact, there had been cases of agricultural lands covered by Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) but later on grabbed and converted by landlords.

The payment of amortization by ARBs is a major flaw of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP). While farmer “beneficiaries” are required to pay for the land, landlords are awarded “just compensation.” The NAEA only passes on the “debt” of ARBs to taxpayers. Section 11 of the law states, “Nothing in this Act shall diminish the right of landowners to just compensation for their agricultural lands acquired under the agrarian reform program, nor shall it be interpreted to remove existing limitations on the transfer, ownership, and agricultural use of land.”

The Hacienda Luisita is an emblematic case. In 2012, the Supreme Court ordered the distribution of the 4,916 hectares of Hacienda Luisita land to the 4,296 original farm-worker beneficiaries.

The Cojuangco-Aquino clan employed many tactics to maintain control of the land, including filing of criminal charges against peasant leaders, fencing off prime agricultural lands for land-use conversion, enticing ARBs into the aryendo system, among others. Recently, the Court of Appeals ordered the government to pay Hacienda Luisita Inc. (HLI) P28.48 billion as just compensation for 4,500 hectares of agricultural land. 

Read: Special Archives: Hacienda Luisita and Agrarian Reform

KMP said that through the years, the total agricultural land area has been shrinking due to aggressive land use conversion, speculative land banking, and so-called “green” projects. Since 1991, total farm area has decreased by 3.8 million hectares, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority Census on Agriculture and Fisheries.

This is proof that the government’s land reform programs have failed, and farmers have not achieved the social justice they deserve. (DAA)

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