President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos' promise of condoning land amortization fees and interests incurred by agrarian reform beneficiaries during his first State of the Nation Address last July would cost more than P50 billion.

This was confirmed by Agrarian Reform Secretary Condrado Estrella III in a radio interview on Saturday, saying the existing agrarian reform loans have reached P58 billion.

The President vowed in his first SoNA that he will lessen the burden on farmers by imposing a one-year moratorium on farmers' land amortization and interest payments and ordered the House of Representatives to pass a law that will amend Section 26 of Republic Act 6657 or the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law of 1998.

Such amendments will liberate the agrarian reform beneficiaries from the debt burden, according to Marcos.

GDP safe

According to Estrella, the condonation program will not affect the country's gross domestic product and would be a great help for farmers.

"This is a huge aid to farmers because the debt to be paid will turn into savings that they can use to improve their farm, its yields, which will result in a better revenue for them," Estrella said in Filipino.

In 2021, the share of agriculture in the GDP was 10.07 percent, the industry contributed approximately 28.89 percent and the services sector contributed about 61.05 percent.

The condonation plan would benefit 650,000, according to Estrella.

The one-year moratorium will be imposed through an Executive Order and will be signed in time for the 65th birthday of Marcos Jr. on 13 September, Estrella revealed.

Earlier, Presidential sister and Senate lawmaker Imee Marcos already filed Senate Bill Nos. 178 and 112 seeking to enact "a complete write-off of all unpaid amortizations from loans secured under all agrarian reform programs."