Question & AnswerQ&A (Republic Act No. 11953)
The short title of Republic Act No. 11953 is the "New Agrarian Emancipation Act".
The main purpose of the Act is to emancipate agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) from financial burden by condoning all principal loans, unpaid amortizations, and interests, and exempting the 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.
The ARBs must have been indebted to the government as of the effectivity of the Act. The Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) and the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) must submit detailed lists of actual loans subject to condonation within three years from the effectivity of the Act.
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 LBP and to private landowners as of the effectivity of the Act.
All direct payments of compensation by ARBs to landowners under VLT and DPS are terminated, and the remaining balances of compensation due shall be paid by the government through the LBP charged against the Agrarian Reform Fund.
The lands awarded to ARBs shall be excluded from their gross estate for estate tax purposes, effectively exempting them from paying estate tax on these lands.
The appropriate Registry of Deeds shall register the Emancipation Patent (EP), Certificate of Land Ownership Awards (CLOA), or other titles within 60 days of issuance in the name of the ARB and annotate the Notice of Condonation on such documents within 60 days from issuance by the DAR.
Pending administrative cases involving forfeiture solely due to failure to pay the thirty-year amortization plus interest shall be dismissed motu proprio by the DAR, and any final decisions of forfeiture shall be reversed and the awards restored.
Persons convicted by final judgment of prohibited acts under Section 73 and penalized under Section 74 of Republic Act No. 6657, as amended, or found to willfully neglect or abandon the land for two years without valid reasons are disqualified from availing of benefits under this Act.
The Department of Agriculture is mandated to include ARBs beneficiaries of this Act in the Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture (RSBSA) and provide them with all support services due to farmers.
ARBs who have completed payment of amortization and interest charges shall be given preference in provision of credit facilities and support services by government financial institutions and relevant programs.
No, nothing in the Act diminishes the right of landowners to just compensation for their agricultural lands acquired under agrarian reform programs.
Implementation costs shall be charged against the Agrarian Reform Fund and subject to the General Appropriations Act and other funds authorized by Congress.
If any provision is declared unconstitutional, the remainder of the Act or provisions not affected shall remain in full force and effect.