The Department of Agriculture is urging the country’s legislators to approve eight farm-friendly measures, including proposed amendments to the Agri-Agra law, that would help pump more loanable funds into the farm and fisheries sector this year.
Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap expressed hope that legislators would be able to pass these bills when they resume session later this month.
The DA is pushing for the approval of among others, a bill extending the life of the Agricultural Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (ACEF) to 2015.
“We are backing anew the congressional approval of amendments to the Agri-Agra Law, as well as six other measures meant to further modernize the agriculture sector, raise incomes for small farmers and fisherfolk, and ensure our nation’s food security and sufficiency in the long haul,” Yap said.
Amendments to the Agri-Agra Law would help ease the rural credit squeeze, Yap said, by plugging loopholes that have allowed commercial banks to buy government securities in lieu of setting aside 10 percent of their loanable funds for agrarian reform as mandated by this law.
The proposed amendments to the Agri-Agra Law include removing the provision in PD 717 allowing banks to invest in government securities as alternative compliance to the law, and specifies those who may have access to credit to ensure that small farmers and fisherfolk are given priority by financial institutions.
Yap welcomed earlier the approval of this measure by the House agriculture committee chaired by Rep. Abraham Kahlil Mitra.
The agriculture sector got a much-needed infusion of P7.4 billion in extra funds in 2008 following President Arroyo’s signing of the law extending the ACEF’s lifespan to 2015.
The ACEF, Yap noted, is a key element in helping the DA significantly reduce post-harvest losses that cut agricultural productivity and farm incomes.
Yap said Congress should also pass pending bills restructuring the National Food Authority (NFA) and creating the Magna Carta for agricultural workers.
He is also urging Congress to immediately act on a long-pending legislative measure that will spell out a national land use policy to regulate the conversion of farmlands into non-food uses.
Pending legislative measures in both chambers of Congress — Senate Bill No. 76 filed by Sen. Loren Legarda and House Bill 3175 authored by Rep. Antonio Cerilles — aim to categorize lands either for agricultural production, human settlements, infrastructure development or as protected areas.
The DA is also backing four more bills, namely those extending the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP); establishing a land use code; creating a Trade Representative Office to help unify the government’s fragmented approach to trade; and promoting a green Philippines.