President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. granted a one year moratorium on amortization of agrarian reform beneficiaries through an executive order signed on Tuesday.

The order is expected to cover 654,000 beneficiaries under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP).

Agrarian Reform Secretary Conrado Estrella III said Marcos is also pushing for legislation to condone the unpaid loans of these beneficiaries.

“We always think about the farmers’ welfare. The one-year moratorium and condonation of farmers’ loan payment will lead to freedom of farmers from debts,” Estrella said in a statement.

The moratorium and condonation are part of the commitment Marcos made during his State of the Nation Address (SONA) last July.

During his SONA, Marcos said an estimated P58.125 billion worth of loans will be written off with his proposed condonation. DMS