Article 157Supplement v1, p. 157

COMMERCIAL LAWS SUPPLEMENT

(h) Farmer refers to a natural person whose primary

livelihood is cultivation of land or the production of

agricultural crops, agroforest products, livestock and/or

fisheries, either by himself/herself, or primarily with the

assistance of his/her immediate farm household, whether

the land is owned by him/her or by another person under

a leasehold or share tenancy agreement or arrangement

with the owner thereof.

(i) Farmworker refers to a natural person who renders

service

for

value

as

an

employee

or laborer in an

agricultural enterprise or farm regardless of whether

his/her compensation is paid on daily, weekly, monthly or

"pakyaw" basis. The term includes an individual whose

work has ceased as a consequence of, or in connection

with, a pending agrarian dispute who has not obtained a

substantially equivalent and regular farm employment.

(j)

Farmer's

Cooperatives

refer

to

organizations

composed

primarily

of

small

agricultural

producers,

farmers,

farmworkers,

or

other

agrarian

reform

beneficiaries who voluntarily organize themselves for the

purpose

of

pooling

land,

manpower,

technological,

financial or other economic resources, and operate on the

principle of one member, one vote. A juridical person may

be a member of a cooperative, with the same rights and

duties as a natural person.

(k) Farmer's and Fisherfolk's Organization or Associations

refers

to

farmer's

and

fisherfolk's

cooperatives,

associations

or

corporations

duly

registered

with

appropriate

government

agencies

and

which

are

composed

primarily

of

small

agricultural

producers,

farmers,

farmworkers,

agrarian

reform

beneficiaries,

fisherfolk who voluntarily join together to form business

enterprises or non-business organizations which they

themselves own, control and patronize.

(l)

Financial

Services

refer

to

services

extended

by

banks/financial institutions such as, but not limited to,

credit/lending, deposits and rediscounting.

(m) Fisherfolk refers to people directly or personally and

physically

engaged

in

taking

and/or

culturing

and

processing fishery and/or aquatic resources.

(n) Fishworker refers to a person whether or not regularly

employed in commercial fishing and related industries,

whose income is either from wages, profit sharing or

stratified

sharing

basis,

including

those

working

in

fishpens, fish corral/traps, fishponds, prawn farms, sea

farms, salt beds, fish ports, fishing boat or trawlers, or fish

processing

and/or

packing

plants,

but

excluding

administrators, security guards and overseers.

(o) Owner-Cultivators refer to natural persons who own

lands by purchase, inheritance, or land distribution by the

State.

Owner-Cultivators

can

operate

the

farm

themselves, supervise wage labor or delegate operations

to farmers.

(p) Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation (PCIC) refers to

a government-owned and -controlled corporation which

provides

insurance

protection

to

the

country's

agricultural

producers,

particularly

the

subsistence

farmers

against

crop

losses

Arising

from

natural

calamities such as typhoons, rising sea levels, floods,

drought, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, plant diseases

and pest infestation, and non-crop agricultural asset

losses due to perils for which the asset has been insured

against.

(q) Quedan and Rural Credit Guarantee Corporation

(QUEDANCOR)

refers

to

a

non-bank

government

financing institution (GFI) under the policy supervision of

the

Department

of

Agriculture

(DA)

created

under

Republic Act No. 7393 geared towards the establishment

of an effective credit delivery system and a guarantee

facility

that

would

promote

inventory

financing

of

agri-aqua

commodities,

production

and

post-harvest

production facilities, farm and fishery machineries and

equipment, investment in production inputs and labor

and the development of rural livelihood enterprise.

(r)

Settlers

refer

to

persons

who

range

from

the

forest-clearing pioneers, including indigenous people,

with a subsistence economy to the better equipped and

more experienced farmers.

(s) Tenant Farmer refers to one who cultivates another's

land under a sharing or leasehold agreement.

ARTICLE II AGRICULTURAL CREDIT, INSURANCE

AND FINANCING SYSTEM

Section 4. Agriculture, Fisheries and Agrarian Reform

Credit, Insurance and Financing System. - There shall be

evolved an agriculture, fisheries and agrarian reform

credit, insurance and financing system to improve the

productivity

of

the

agriculture and fisheries sectors,

particularly the farmers, fisherfolk and agrarian reform

beneficiaries,

settlers,

agricultural

lessees,

amortizing

owners,

farmworkers,

fishworkers,

owner-cultivators,

compact farmers, farmer's and fisherfolk's cooperatives,

organizations and associations, through government and

private banking institutions.

Agriculture and agrarian reform credit, as used herein,

shall consist of loans activities and purposes including,

but not limited to, agricultural production, promotion of

agribusiness and exports, acquisition of work animals,

farm

and

fishery

equipment

and

machinery, seeds,

fertilizers, poultry, livestock, feeds and other similar items,

acquisition

of

lands

authorized

under

the

Agrarian

Reform Code of the Philippines and its amendments;

construction,

acquisition

and

repair

of

facilities

for

production, processing, storage and marketing and such

other facilities in support of agriculture and fisheries; and

efficient and effective merchandising of agricultural and

fishery commodities stored and/or processed by the

facilities aforecited in domestic and foreign commerce.

Section

5.

Agriculture

and

Agrarian

Reform

Credit

Beneficiaries. - The credit mentioned in the preceding

section shall be extended to the beneficiaries named

therein or to cooperatives and associations in good

standing of such beneficiaries regardless of capitalization

based on the feasibility of the project and their paying

capacity, their estimated production, and/or securities

they can provide from the proceeds of the loan.

Section

6.

Credit

Quota.

-

All

banking

institutions,

whether government or private, shall set aside at least

twenty-five percent (25%) of their total loanable funds for

agriculture and fisheries credit in general, of which at

least ten percent (10%) of the loanable funds shall be

made

available

for

agrarian

reform

beneficiaries

mentioned in Section 5 hereof: Provided, however, That

total loanable funds as used in the section shall refer to

funds generated from the date of effectivity of this Act:

Provided, further, That the twenty -five percent (25%)

credit

quota

is

subject

to

a

joint

review

by

the

Department

of

Agriculture (DA), the Department of

Agriculture Reform (DAR) and the Bangko Sentral ng

Pilipinas (BSP) after three (3) years of implementation to

determine

whether

the

law

has

been

effective

in

accomplishing its goals. The findings shall be submitted

to Congress.

Section 7. Modes of Compliance. - The BSP, the DA and

the DAR, in consultation with concerned agencies and

sectors, shall promulgate such rules and regulations as

may be necessary to implement the provisions of this Act

within ninety (90) days after the approval of this Act. Such

rules and regulations shall take effect fifteen (15) days

after its publication in a newspaper of general circulation

in the Philippines. Subject to such rules and regulations,

banking institutions may be allowed to:

(a) Invest in bonds issued by the Development Bank of

the

Philippines

(DBP)

and

the

Land

Bank

of

the

Philippines (LBP) and/or open special deposit accounts

(SDAs) with accredited rural financial institutions defined

by the implementing rules and regulations: Provided,

That the proceeds from said bonds and SDAs shall be

used exclusively for on-lending to the agriculture and

© Compiled by RGL

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