Settlement of agrarian reform liabilities and access to operating funds towards an accelerated rural development

The welfare of the farmer is vital to that of the whole country. William Howard Taft To reduce poverty in the country and help the farmers secure the property rights for the land that they have been tilling, the State pushed for the redistribution of lands to said marginalized group. While, eighty percent of the land to be distributed was already given to beneficiaries after almost twenty five years following the promulgation of the 1987 Constitution and the enactment of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law as well as subsequent laws which provided land to landless farmers, support mechanisms, the desired conclusion of program was still to be met. Akin to this, most of the rural sector is still living below poverty line and most of the rural Philippines are still under developed. For this reason, agricultural development became a government priority as agricultural households account for the highest levels of poverty. Farmers and support groups are continuously clamoring facilitation for completion and modification of the law to properly suit the needs of the landless farmers. Consequently, farmers are burdened with debts from amortization of redistributed land and loans for farm operations. Given the situation, there are calls for reform in the rural development programs to realize of the state’s policy in agrarian reform and poverty reduction. Among the clamor are to settle the debts of the farmers which came about because of lapses and negligence in the implementation of the agrarian reform program and the non-payment of credit provided to the farmers for farm operations. This study will look at the settlement of farmers’ debts in particular the production loans, the rural financial system and provision of an efficient credit system to resolve the social and economic problems of farmers. Furthermore, it will explore the above as an approach in stimulating growth in the agricultural sector and rural development including its business and legal implications. Land is good for the poor. However, much remains to be done, in terms of proper government intervention to increase productivity and generate capital for investments in better farming methods that is needed for growth