Question & AnswerQ&A (Republic Act No. 11953)
Republic Act No. 11953 is officially known as the "New Agrarian Emancipation Act."
The Act aims to emancipate Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries (ARBs) by condoning all principal loans, unpaid amortizations, and interests, and exempting payment of estate tax on agricultural lands awarded under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program.
The Act covers the condonation of P57.557 billion principal debt of 610,054 Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries tilling a total of 1,173,101.57 hectares of agrarian reform lands.
ARBs refer to farmers or farmworkers who were granted lands under Presidential Decree No. 27, Republic Act No. 6657 as amended, and Republic Act No. 9700, and who have outstanding loan balances payable to the Land Bank of the Philippines and to private landowners as of the effectivity of this Act.
Upon the effectivity of the Act, individual loans of ARBs, including interests, penalties, and surcharges, are condoned and written off by the Government, relieving them of the burden of payment.
Payments made by 10,201 ARBs tilling 11,531.24 hectares under VLT and DPS are terminated, and the remaining balances are to be paid by the Government through the Land Bank of the Philippines, provided that the ARBs were indebted to the landowner as of the effectivity of the Act.
The land awarded to ARBs shall be excluded from their gross estate for estate tax purposes. The Department of the Interior and Local Government is also encouraged to promote local tax amnesty on real property taxes and other transfer taxes for qualified ARBs.
The Act does not diminish the landowner's right to just compensation for agricultural lands acquired under agrarian reform, nor does it remove existing limitations on transfer, ownership, and agricultural use of land.
Such ARBs are disqualified from availing of the benefits under this Act. Disqualification also applies if an ARB willfully refuses to make the land productive or deliberately abandons the land for two calendar years, subject to certain exceptions.
The DAR must dismiss motu proprio any pending administrative cases of forfeiture solely due to non-payment of amortization and interest. The execution of final decisions resulting in cancellation of agrarian reform awards due to non-payment must be terminated and reversed.