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KUNG mayroon man dapat pahalagahan ang pamahalaan, yun ay ang sektor ng agrikultura, ayon kay dating House Speaker Martin Romualdez kasabay ng paghahain ng panukalang batas na nagsusulong ng buwanang pensyon para sa hanay ng mga magsasaka.
Sa ilalim ng inihaing House Bill 7663, iginiit ni Romualdez ang bentahe ng pension program para sa “qualified elderly farmers.”
“The pension program is crucial for providing financial security, reducing poverty and ensuring a decent standard of living in their later years, as they are often considered among the poorest in society with limited access to formal, consistent income,” paliwanag ni Romualdez sa HB 7663.
“Because many farmers face low, variable incomes and often work past traditional retirement age due to financial necessity, pensions offer a guaranteed, regular income source, reducing their dependence on family members or the need to sell off assets to cover living expenses,” dugtong ng kinatawan ng Leyte sa Kamara.
Partikular na isinusulong ng naturang panukalang batas ang pagkakaroon ng Comprehensive Farmers’ Pension and Social Protection na nagtatakda ng monthly pension at social protection program para sa “elderly, disabled and indigent farmers na hindi saklaw ng umiiral na retirement systems.
Ayon naman kay Tingog partylist Rep. Jude Acidre na tunatayong co-author ng HB 7663, pasok sa kategorya ng qualified farmer ang mga edad 60-anyos pataas at hindi tumatanggap ng anumang pensyon mula sa SSS, GSIS o anumang private retirement system.
Ang disabled farmer naman ay “a farmer with a medically certified physician or mental impairment, permanently or temporarily incapacitated for the performance of farm work in which he/she was habitually engaged.”
Habang ang indigent farmer “is one officially classified as such by their respective LGUs based on the data collection at the local level, supervised by the Philippine Statistics Authority in accordance with Republic Act No. 11315, otherwise known as the Community-Based Monitoring System Act.”
Anila, ang farmer beneficiary ay ang sinumang indibidwal na pangunahing at direktang nasa crop production, livestock raising, aquaculture, o iba pang agriculture-related work, maging sila man ay landowner, tenant, o agricultural worker.
“The proposed law provides that the Department of Agriculture, in coordination with the Department of Social Welfare and Development, and Philippine Crop Insurance Corp., shall implement the farmers’ pension program, which shall include a P3,000 monthly pension and basic life and disability insurance for farmers not covered by SSS and GSIS.”
Para sa basic life insurance, isinusulong ng mga kongresista ang P50,000 coverage, habang sa P25,000 per claim naman sa accident at disability assistance. (ROMER R. BUTUYAN)
