The House is giving a way out to farmers by proposing to write off their outstanding debt under the government's agrarian reform program.

Passing the "New Agrarian Emancipation Bill", the chamber seeks to condone "unpaid amortizations, interest payments, surcharges and penalties of existing loans" of agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) to Land Bank, which would also assume the ARBs' unpaid obligations to landowners.

A certificate of condonation from the Department of Agrarian Reform would be annotated on the beneficiary's emancipation patent or certificate of land ownership award equivalent to a land title, erasing such mortgage liens in favor of the national government.

HB 6336 further provides for free land distribution to ARBs who are still to receive their awarded lands under the CARP or any other agrarian reform program or laws.

"All private agricultural lands covered under CARP or any agrarian reform program or laws that have not been distributed at the time of the effectivity of this Act shall be distributed at no cost to the qualified beneficiaries," the bill said.

The bill also wants restituted agrarian reform awards forfeited solely due to non-payment of annual amortization and interest.

ARBs are "farmers who were granted lands under the law who have outstanding loan balances payable to the Land Bank of the Philippines."