Article 150Labor and Agrarian Laws and Social Legislation, p. 150

LABOR LAWS AND SOCIAL LEGISLATION SPECIAL LAWS AND IMPLEMENTING RULES AND REGULATIONS

(e) The SRA shall address the fight against poverty

through a multi-dimensional and cross-sectoral approach

which recognizes and respects the core values, cultural

integrity, and spiritual diversity of target sectors and

communities;

(f)

The

SRA

shall

pursue

a

gender-responsive

approach to fight poverty;

(g) The SRA shall promote ecological balance in the

different ecosystems, in a way that gives the basic sectors

a major stake in the use, management, conservation and

protection of productive resources;

(h) The SRA shall take into account the principle and

interrelationship of population and development in the

planning and implementation of social reform programs

thereby promoting self-help and self-reliance; and

(i) The SRA implementation shall be focused on

specific target areas and basic sectors.

Section 3. Definition of terms . – As used in this Act,

the following terms shall mean:

(a) "Artisanal fisherfolk" – Refers to municipal, small

scale or subsistence fishermen who use fishing gear

which do not require boats or which only require boats

below three (3) tons;

(b) "Basic sectors" – Refer to the disadvantaged

sectors of Philippine society, namely: farmer-peasant,

artisanal fisherfolk, workers in the formal sector and

migrant

workers,

workers

in

the

informal

sector,

indigenous peoples and cultural communities, women,

differently-abled

persons,

senior

citizens,

victims

of

calamities and disasters, youth and students, children,

and urban poor;

(c)

"Cooperative"

–

Refers

to

a

duly

registered

association of at least fifteen (15) persons, majority of

which are poor, having a common bond of interest, who

voluntarily join together to achieve a lawful common

social and economic end. It is organized by the members

who equitably contribute the required share capital and

accept a fair share of the risks and benefits of their

undertaking in accordance with the universally accepted

corporate principles and practices;

(d) "Capability building" – Refers to the process of

enhancing the viability and sustainability of microfinance

institutions through activities that include training in

microfinance technologies, upgrading of accounting and

auditing systems, technical assistance for the installation

or improvement of management information systems,

monitoring of loans and other related activities. The term

capability building shall in no way refer to the provision of

equity

investments, seed funding, partnership's seed

funds, equity participation, start-up funds or any such

activity that connotes the infusion of capital or funds

from the government or from the people's development

trust fund to microfinance institution as defined in this

Act. Capability building precludes the grant of any loan or

equity funds to the microfinance institution;

(e)

"Collateral-free

arrangement"

–

A

financial

arrangement wherein a loan is contracted by the debtor

without the conventional loan security of a real estate or

chattel mortgage in favor of the creditor. In lieu of these

conventional

securities,

alternative

arrangements

to

secure the loans and ensure repayment are offered and

accepted;

(f) "Group character loan" – A loan contracted by a

member and guaranteed by a group of persons for its

repayment. The creditor can collect from any of the

members of the group which guaranteed the said loan,

without prejudice to the right of reimbursement of the

member or members of the group who had advanced

the payment in favor of the actual debtor;

(g) "Indigenous cultural communities/ indigenous

peoples" – As defined in Republic Act No. 8371, otherwise

known as "The Indigenous Peoples Rights Act of 1997" ;

(h) "Migrant workers" – As defined in Republic Act No.

8042, otherwise known as the "Migrant Workers and

Overseas Filipino Act of 1995" ;

(i) "Micro-enterprise" – Any economic enterprise with

a

capital

of

One

hundred

fifty

thousand

pesos

(P150,000.00)

and

below.

This

amount is subject to

periodic determination of the Department of Trade and

Industry to reflect economic changes;

(j) "Microfinance" – A credit and savings mobilization

program exclusively for the poor to improve the asset

base of households and expand the access to savings of

the poor. It involves the use of viable alternative credit

schemes and savings programs including the extension

of small loans, simplified loan application procedures,

group

character

loans,

collateral-free

arrangements,

alternative loan repayments, minimum requirements for

savings, and small denominated savers' instruments;

(k) "Minimum basic needs" – Refers to the needs of a

Filipino family pertaining to survival (food and nutrition;

health; water and sanitation; clothing), security (shelter;

peace and order; public safety; income and livelihood)

and enabling (basic education and literacy; participation

in community development; family and psycho-social

care);

(l)

"Human

development

index" – Refers to the

measure of how well a country has performed, based on

social indicators of people's ability to lead a long and

healthy life, to acquire knowledge and skills, and to have

access

to

the resources needed to afford a decent

standard of living. This index looks at a minimum of three

outcomes of development: the state of health (measured

by life expectancy at birth), the level of knowledge and

skill (measured by a weighted average of adult literacy

and enrollment rates), and the level of real income per

capita, adjusted for poverty considerations;

(m) "Non-government organizations" – Refers to duly

registered non-stock, non-profit organizations focusing

on the upliftment of the basic or disadvantaged sectors of

society

by

providing

advocacy,

training,

community

organizing,

research,

access

to

resources, and other

similar activities;

(n) "People's organization" – Refers to a self-help

group

belonging

to

the

basic

sectors

and/or

disadvantaged groups composed of members having a

common bond of interest who voluntarily join together to

achieve a lawful common social or economic end;

(o) "Poor" – Refers to individuals and families whose

income fall below the poverty threshold as defined by the

National Economic and Development Authority and/or

cannot afford in a sustained manner to provide their

minimum basic needs of food, health, education, housing

and other essential amenities of life;

(p) "Poverty alleviation" – Refers to the reduction of

absolute poverty and relative poverty;

(q) "Absolute poverty" – Refers to the condition of the

household below the food threshold level;

(r) "Relative poverty" – Refers to the gap between the

rich and the poor;

(s) "Social reform" – Refers to the continuing process

of addressing the basic inequities in Filipino society

through a systematic, unified and coordinated delivery of

socioeconomic programs or packages;

(t) "Small Savers Instrument (SSI)" – Refers to an

evidence of indebtedness of the Government of the

Republic of the Philippines which shall be in small

denominations

and

sold

at

a

discount

from

its

redemption value, payable to bearer and redeemable on

demand

according

to

a

schedule

printed

on

the

instrument, with a discount lower than the full stated rate

if not held to maturity. The resources generated under

this scheme shall be used primarily for micro-credit for

the poor. SSIs are not eligible as legal reserve of banks

and legal reserves prescribed of insurance companies

operating in the Philippines;

© Compiled By RGL

150 of 169