Question & AnswerQ&A (Republic Act No. 10000)
The short title of Republic Act No. 10000 is "The Agri-Agra Reform Credit Act of 2009."
The primary policy is to promote equal access to opportunities under an environment of sustained growth and expanding productivity, specifically by promoting rural development through enhanced access to financial services and programs for the rural agricultural sector.
Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries include farmers granted lands under Presidential Decree No. 27, the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law, Republic Act No. 9700, and regular farmworkers who are landless, irrespective of tenurial arrangement, and all other alternative arrangements allowing beneficiaries to receive a just share of the fruits of the lands they work.
The AGFP is composed of 5% of the 2007 surplus of government-owned or controlled corporations and financial institutions such as PAGCOR, PCSO, SSS, and GSIS, including penalties collected from banking institutions for noncompliance and undercompliance with this Act.
All banking institutions must set aside at least 25% of their total loanable funds for agriculture and fisheries credit, of which at least 10% must be exclusively for agrarian reform beneficiaries.
Banking institutions may comply by investing in bonds issued by the DBP and LBP, opening special deposit accounts with accredited rural financial institutions, rediscounting eligible papers with universal and commercial banks, lending for agricultural infrastructure, investing in preferred shares of rural financial institutions, investing in shares of QUEDANCOR and PCIC, and investing or lending in activities under the Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization Act.
Eligible beneficiaries include farmers, fisherfolk, agrarian reform beneficiaries, settlers, agricultural lessees, amortizing owners, farmworkers, fishworkers, owner-cultivators, compact farmers, and their cooperatives and associations in good standing.
Penalties are computed at 0.5% of the amount of noncompliance or undercompliance and are used for the development of the agri-agra sector. Ninety percent of the penalties go to the Agricultural Guarantee Fund Pool and the Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation, while ten percent are allocated to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas for administrative expenses.
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas must furnish annual reports on compliance with mandatory credit allocations to the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Agrarian Reform, and Congress.
The Act takes effect 15 days after its publication in the Official Gazette or a newspaper of general circulation.