QuestionsQuestions (Republic Act No. 7607)
RA 7607 declares that the State shall give highest priority to the development of agriculture to achieve equitable distribution of benefits and opportunities through the empowerment of small farmers, while supporting rural development that integrates women and youth, maintains ecological balance and environmental protection, and recognizes the rights of small farmers and farmworkers (and their organizations) to participate in planning and implementation of agricultural programs, supported by appropriate policies, research, technology, training, and financial and other support services.
A “small farmer” is a natural person dependent on small-scale subsistence farming as the primary source of income, whose sale/barter/exchange of agricultural products does not exceed a gross value of PHP 180,000 per annum based on 1992 constant prices. The income level may be periodically reviewed/adjusted by an inter-agency committee headed by the Department of Agriculture to account for inflation, devaluation, and CPI changes.
The State recognizes farmers’ right to organize to promote their welfare and advance or safeguard their interests. Government assistance is provided to help establish self-help organizations such as farmers’ cooperatives and associations, and the formation of marketing cooperatives is specifically encouraged.
After farmers voluntarily organize at barangay, municipal, provincial, and regional levels, elected farmer representatives elect national officials (from among themselves) who occupy seats in boards of concerned government agencies (e.g., PCA, NFA, PCIC, NIA, and others). At other levels, farmer representatives serve in planning and implementing units of local governments as official representatives of farmers, preferably as members of primary farmers’ organizations (preferably cooperatives) elected in preceding levels.
Empowerment refers to provision of opportunities for farmers to have access to ownership or management of production resources. It is framed as inalienable rights of farmers to participate in charting political, economic, and social development, along with corresponding obligations of farmers to undertake patriotic and nationalistic endeavors.
Examples include: (1) conduct activities with a support price program for certain commodities (rice/corn); (2) participate in a market free from monopoly/cartel or other situations suppressing prices; (3) be covered by social security; (4) avail of credit at minimal interest rates with minimum collateral for farm and basic household needs; (5) avail of and distribute farm inputs and services; (6) be heard and represented in government; (7) be regularly informed of vital information (market prices, policies, demands, practices); (8) pursue education/skills development; (9) eventually assume certain processing/marketing functions of government; and (10) avail technical assistance for project feasibility in availing loans.
Farmers must (among others): use farmers’ organizations (preferably cooperatives); aim for increased productivity using recommended practices and quality inputs; comply with conditions of government/financial/NGO assistance; adopt production/marketing strategies for economies of scale and technology; share benefits derived from economies of scale and improved technology through reasonable prices and superior quality; contribute labor/materials for public services like irrigation maintenance and public markets; meet local demand to avert shortages; participate in conservation/protection of national patrimony; promptly pay fees and taxes; participate in insurance/social security; and undertake self-help community development projects.
The Government must provide infrastructure support, access to farm inputs and services to agriculture sector, particularly small farmers based on absorptive capacity. In construction/maintenance, Government must undertake with farmers’ organizations for the purpose of utilizing locally available manpower and materials. It also mandates assistance for each farmer to access/own/operate facilities needed for pre- and postharvest activities, support services, and procurement/distribution of inputs through farmers’ organizations, and requires linkage mechanisms among cities/municipalities, barangays, NGOs, and concerned agencies.
The Government shall provide farm-to-market roads, feeder roads and bridges linking farms to markets, prioritizing areas populated by small farmers and with low productivity. It must also provide additional piers/wharves and airports/improve existing facilities, especially in areas with surplus production and other strategic locations, and devise schemes allowing farmers to operate and eventually obtain their own transport equipment. DPWH implements in coordination with other agencies; farmers’ organizations participate in site identification, preparation, execution, and maintenance, especially using local manpower/materials.
Every barangay predominantly agriculture-based is entitled to at least one storage facility and a multipurpose pavement/plaza usable for drying and other purposes. Facilities are located in chosen barangay sites or approved locations after consultation; farmers’ organizations provide labor and locally available materials. Farmers’ organizations may collect reasonable fees, but collections must be used only for maintenance, improvement, and expansion; rental fees for the land must be remitted to the barangay where applicable.
The National Food Authority (NFA) establishes needed postharvest facilities (e.g., rice mills, dryers, threshers, warehouses, cold storage). These are leased to farmers’ organizations, and viable cooperatives may opt to buy facilities from NFA. Underutilized or non-operational government postharvest facilities are made available to farmers’ organizations through lease or sale.
RA 7607 provides that the State ensures every farmer has equal opportunity to avail of, produce, and market good seeds and planting materials recommended by the Department of Agriculture, suitable for irrigated, rainfed, and upland areas. Farmers’ organizations coordinate with DA field offices and other agencies to make seeds and production/marketing means available. DA, through BPI and with stakeholders including farmers’ organizations and UP Los Baños, supports seed production and distribution; DA provides information campaigns and accelerates dissemination of seed technology, and performs seed quality control to discourage inferior seeds.
The NFA or other DA implementing agencies for government price support (especially rice and corn) must procure/purchase palay, corn, and other price-supported agricultural produce directly from small farmers or farmers’ organizations. It must devise an effective procurement scheme ensuring small farmers can avail of the benefit. Officials/employees who consort/connive with traders or non-farmers in these purchases are subject to penalties (fine and/or imprisonment) plus perpetual disqualification from holding public office, without probation. Similar penalties apply to sale-side violations, and evidence copies must be furnished to BIR within 30 days.
RA 7607 requires an efficient rural credit delivery system with a maximum interest rate not exceeding 75% of the commercial rate per annum inclusive of all service/penalty/other charges; minimum collateral requirements; accessibility; reasonable repayment terms; expeditious loan documentation and processing. It also expands credit coverage beyond production inputs to include education and health needs, requires credit awareness/training subsidies, promotes information on creditworthiness, expands loan guarantees and crop insurance coverage, and allows farmers’ organizations to serve as conduits of lending institutions.
The Act provides a fine of not less than PHP 10,000 or imprisonment for not less than 2 years nor more than 4 years, or both, at the discretion of the court, plus administrative sanctions including perpetual disqualification to hold public office. Probation law does not apply to penalties imposed under the Act.