PCCI backs land reform debt write off

MANILA  -The Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) on Friday said it is backing the enactment of a proposed law that will condone some P57 billion in debt incurred by land reform beneficiaries, signaling strong support from the private sector for a measure that is currently awaiting approval by President Marcos.

“The New Agrarian Emancipation Act is expected to provide much-needed financial relief to the agricultural reform beneficiaries to allow farmers freed from debt to devote more resources to their land,” PCCI president George Barcelon, whose business association touts itself as the largest in the country, said in an online forum on Friday.

“Hopefully, the enactment of this measure will help in the development of farms, increase productivity and advance an agriculture-driven economy,” he added.

Barcelon also noted that the weakest link in Philippine socioeconomic development is agriculture, adding that it has continued to decline in terms of contribution to the country’s overall economic output which is now pegged at around 9 percent.

The PCCI official cited that the services sector has expanded significantly, contributing 61 percent, while the industry sector has a share of 30 percent.

According to the Philippine Statistics Authority, the agriculture, forestry and fishing sector accounted for only 8.9 percent of the Philippines’ gross domestic product (GDP) in 2022, the lowest in five years.

“Putting this into perspective, agriculture accounted for one-quarter of the country’s GDP during the 1980s and almost one-third in the 1970s. We were a net exporter of agricultural products in the 1980s but as of the 1990s, we have become net importers as exports fell behind, outpaced by imports,” Barcelon said, but noted that the sector still provides employment for 25 percent of the country’s labor force.

Barcelon pointed out that restrictions under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law have put farmers in grave states of indebtedness through the erosion of the value of their lands, limited access to credit and constrained the transfer of land to more productive uses, among others.

The Partido Federal ng Pilipinas, which is led by President Marcos as national chair, had recently cited the benefits of letting the chief executive continue to lead the Department of Agriculture.

“This is because the President knows what to do and apparently has the solutions needed to address problems in the agriculture sector,” South Cotabato Gov. Reynaldo Sucayan Tamayo Jr., who stands as the party president, said last week. INQ