9 July 28-August 3, 2022 MARCOS...
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As a priority, Marcos vowed to ease the debt burden of Filipino farmers so they can improve farm productivity, help lower food prices and create jobs. At the same time, Marcos called on Congress to enact at least 19 measures to help the people and boost the economy. Senate President Juan Miguel Z ubiri and House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez and other Congress leaders immediately vowed to support the proposed measures. n his first and widely applauded SONA, Marcos said he will issue an ex ecutive order imposing a year-long moratorium on the payment of land amortiz ation and interest payments for land reform eneficiaries which he said was already included in Republic Act No. 11469 or the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act approved at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Marcos, who is also Secretary of Agriculture, also vowed to increase agricultural production to address high food prices. He said the Department of Agricuture has finalized a plan to increase production through financial and technical aid for farmers during the next planting season. “ A moratorium will give the farmers the ability to channel their resources in developing their farms, maxi miz ing their capacity to produce, and propel the
growth of our economy,” he said. Marcos also called on Congress to do its share on easing the debt burden of farmers. “ Congress must also pass a law that will emancipate the agrarian reform beneficiaries from the agrarian reform de t burden, thereby amending Section 26 of Republic Act 6657,” he said. “ In this law, the loans of agrarian reform eneficiaries with unpaid amortization and interest shall be condoned. grarian reform eneficiaries who are still to receive their land under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program shall receive it without any obligation to pay any amortiz ation,” he added. If passed into law, this debt condonation would involve P58.125 billion, benefiting , agrarian reform eneficiaries in 1.18 million hectares of awarded lands. arcos also said , hectares of unused agricultural lands would be distributed to war veterans and their families, as well as retirees of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP). College graduates specializ ing in agriculture will also be given this land, Marcos said. “ The call of the times is for the infusion of fresh and new blood in the agricultural sector. W e need a new breed of farmers equipped with modern agricultural technology to be able to engage and sustain scientific farming that will not
only increase farm yields but also resilience in the face of climate change,” he added. Under his administration, Marcos said loans and financial assistance for farmers and fishers will e institutionalized gricultural producers will also be assisted in the moderniz ation of farms. scientific approach will also e used to increase agricultural output, including technologies that will make products resilient to climate change. Marcos, at the same time, called on Congress to legislate 19 measures, including the revival of mandatory Reserve Officers raining Corps O C course, the rightsiz ing of government, budget moderniz ation, creation of a Medical Reserve Corps, National Disease Prevention Management Authority, the Philippine Center for Disease Prevention and Control, among others. Marcos said the proposed Budget Moderniz ation law will institutionaliz e the Cash-based Budgeting System (CBS), which was adopted by virtue of E xe cutive Order signed in , to strengthen fiscal discipline in the allocation and use of budget resources. Marcos also asked Congress to support the proposed E -Government Act which provides for the establishment of the E -Government Master Plan which shall cover all e-government services and processes. The proposed E -Governance Act, on the other hand, aims to promote the use
of Internet, Intranet, and other Information and Communications Technology to provide opportunities for citiz ens. Marcos also sought the passage of measures creating the Virology Institute of the Philippines (VIP) and the Department of W ater Resources (DW R). The proposed VIP, he said, would serve as an attached agency of then Department of Science and Technology (DOST). On the other hand, the proposed Integrated W ater Resource Management (IW RM) will be adopted as the strategic framework for national water management, policymaking and planning, once the DW R is created, Marcos said. Marcos also called for the creation of the Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) and the Philippine Center for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC), which will be attached to the Department of Health O , are also among his government s priorities. The MRC, which will be under the Health and E mergency Management Bureau (HE MB) of the DOH, shall be composed of licensed physicians, medical students who have completed their four years of medical course, graduates of medicine, registered nurses, and licensed allied health professionals. Marcos expr essed optimism that the lawmakers would back the Tax Package 3: Valuation Reform Bill and the Tax Package 4: Passive Income and Financial Intermediary Taxa tion Act (PIFITA).
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