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