A House leader on Friday said the full implementation of Republic Act (RA) 11291 or the Magna Carta for the Poor will empower farmers, fisherfolk, and agricultural workers in the informal sector.
Deputy Speaker Sharon Garin of AAMBIS-Owa party-list the measure shall give them a stronger claim to sustained opportunities for growth and development.
The Magna Carta for the Poor was signed by President Rodrigo Duterte last May 27. The measure shall take effect 15 days after its publication in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation.
The recently signed law aims to empower poor Filipinos to meet the minimum basic needs and uplift their standard of living and quality of life. The poor, as defined in the measure, refers to the “individuals or families whose income falls below the poverty threshold as defined by the National Economic and Development Authority [NEDA]and/or cannot afford in a sustained manner to provide their minimum basic needs of food, health, education, housing, or other amenities in life.”
As co-author of the bill, Garin said "the Magna Carta for the Poor is a step closer to ensuring that no Filipino gets left behind. Further, the measure shall advance the rights of workers in the agriculture sector."
Citing the Poverty Statistics for Basic Sectors published by the Philippine Statistics Authority in 2017, Garin said farmers and fishermen have consistently been registered as the two of the three sectors with the highest poverty incidence in 2006, 2009, 2012 and 2015.
Garin said the agricultural sector contributes around P13 billion or about 9percent of the gross domestic product of the country. Further, agricultural workers who make up 26.1 percent of the country’s labor force (which translates to around 11.29-million workers) remains to be the poorest of the poor.
The law states that it “shall adopt area-based, sectoral, and focused intervention to poverty alleviation.” With the assistance of the Department of Social Welfare and Development and the Department of Agriculture, farmers, fisherfolk, and agricultural workers can expect to be proactively engaged in activities intended to promote their food sufficiency and strengthen their access to resources and means to ensure food security.
“The passage of the RA 11291 is a victory for all Filipinos. Our job now is to make sure that this charter is recognized and properly implemented,” Garin added.