The irony of agrarian reform is drowning land beneficiaries in debts as many of them failed to pay amortization on time and still had to loan to till it.

In his 2023 State of the Nation Address (SoNA) delivered in July that year, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. announced the condonation of P57.55 billion in unpaid amortizations of 610,054 beneficiaries for 1.173 million hectares of agrarian land through Republic Act 11953 or the New Agrarian Reform Emancipation Act.

Marcos also issued an Executive Order (EO) imposing a one-year moratorium on land amortization and interest payments of Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program beneficiaries. Two months later, the President issued another EO extending the moratorium until September this year to relieve 129,059 more beneficiaries who failed to meet the deadline for availing the debt condonation.

The ongoing debt relief supports one of the administration’s hallmarks in social services: poverty alleviation. This year, similar relief for the poor were rolled out such as the coveted P20 per kilo rice, discount on Metro Manila train fare per family of four riders and up to 50 percent off for senior citizen passengers.

Clamor for cheap rice seems to have subsided as the National Food Authority rolled out the P20 per kilo staple in Kadiwa rolling stores, which also sell cheap produce and other food for the masses.

Another thrust of Marcos’ social services is health as the government continues to roll out Super Health Centers (SHC). The Department of Health (DoH) built more than 600 SHC so far nationwide since Marcos’ election.

SHC primarily serve far-flung communities and help ease patient congestion in public hospitals. Bigger than barangay and rural health centers, such facilities also known as Bagong Urgent Care Ambulatory Services Centers (BUCAS) are better equipped and manned. Laboratory testing, X-ray, ultrasound, electrocardiogram, outpatient consultation, maternal and child services, tuberculosis screening and minor surgeries are available while serving as satellite vaccination sites, pharmacy and referral systems for more specialized healthcare.

The 51 BUCAS nationwide have assisted nearly 860,000 patients as of June 2025, according to DoH Secretary Teodoro Herbosa. They were given free medicines, vaccine, anti-rabies shot and pre-natal checkup.

Meanwhile, the PhilHealth benefit for diseased kidney patients was increased from P620,000 to P2 million, enough to cover the cost of life-saving organ transplant. Members also can avail of 156 dialysis sessions annually, up from the previous benefit of 90, easing the out-of-pocket payments of Filipinos with stage 5 chronic kidney disease.

The government is sustaining the peace process in Mindanao with the holding of parliamentary election in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) on 13 October.

Marcos signed the law on the new election date last February to give both BARMM stakeholders and the Commission on Elections enough time to prepare for the democratic exercise.