PBBM distributes debt condonation certificates to agrarian reform beneficiaries, aid to farmers...

PBBM distributes debt condonation certificates to agrarian reform beneficiaries, aid to farmers and fisherfolk.

Transcript

00:00Aside from not earning much, farmers also have to contend with expenses that eventually

00:05pile up and often bind them to a life of debt.

00:08Fortunately, the government has a condonation program that will free them from these shackles

00:14and ultimately help them reap more from the bounty of their back-breaking work.

00:19Kenneth Paciente has more.

00:21Ricardo has to pay the government 295,000 pesos for the 1.5 hectares of land he leases

00:29for farming.

00:30He admits it is a huge burden to pay.

00:50This problem of Ricardo and other farmers has finally been addressed by the government.

00:55Today, the President spearheaded the distribution of Agrarian Debt Condonation Certificates

01:00for Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries started in the Ilocos Region.

01:05This means the debts of people like Ricardo have been wiped out.

01:08This was made possible by the new Agrarian Emancipation Act signed into law by the President

01:13in his first year in office.

01:15In total, more than 4,000 Condonation Certificates for over 3,000 Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries

01:21have been distributed.

01:23These amounts to more than 50.5 million pesos worth of condoned debts.

01:53In addition to Region 1, the President said the government will provide similar help to

02:11the neighboring Cordillera Administrative Region.

02:24The President also led the distribution of financial assistance under the Presidential

02:31Assistance to farmers, fisherfolk, and their families or PAF program.

02:36Around 18,000 beneficiaries in Region 1 received 10,000 pesos each.

02:41In total, the government gave P180 million pesos to the provinces of the region.

02:46There were also farm machinery and equipment from the Department of Agriculture and BFAR,

02:50as well as help from the other government agencies like DOLES TUPAD, DSWD's ACAP, among others.

03:20This is the last leg of the PAF program after the President visited Mindanao, Visayas, and

03:41Luzon to assist the sectors hit hard by El Niño, Kenneth, and Paciente from the National

03:47TV Network for a New and Better Philippines.