MANILA — Senate Majority Leader Joel Villanueva has proposed the creation of a social security and pension benefit program for Filipino farmers and fisherfolk to recognize their role as nation builders and provide them security in their old age.
“It has been said that a farmer works so the nation can eat. This is how crucial our farmers are in securing food and driving national development,” Villanueva said.
“There is an urgent need to safeguard their welfare through policies that mitigate their socioeconomic risks and vulnerabilities,” he added in his Senate Bill No. 244 or the proposed “Pensyonadong Magsasaka at Mangingisda Act.”
The bill seeks to establish the “Farmers and Fisherfolk Social Security and Pension Program” which shall provide sickness, maternity, disability, retirement, death and funeral benefits to farmers and fisherfolk.
The program shall be integrated and made consistent with the package benefits under the Social Security System (SSS) and relevant programs of the Department of Agriculture and the Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation.
The PCIC shall manage the registration system of eligible beneficiaries under the Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture and maintain the required operational reports.
The SSS is tasked to manage the funds allocated and the social security and pension scheme of the program and maintain the required actuarial and financial reports.
The initial fund of the program shall come from the national government savings. The succeeding funds for its continuous implementation shall be sourced from 10% of the total annual duties collected from the importation of agricultural products and from the annual budget of the Agriculture department.
When enacted into law, Villanueva said the measure could benefit some 10 million farmers and fisherfolk, based on April 2025 government statistics.
In 2024, agriculture, forestry and fishing accounted for 8% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product.
“In real terms, using constant 2018 prices, its gross value added stood at P1.78 trillion, a testament to its continued relevance,” Villanueva said.
“Yet despite its economic weight, the sector’s productivity has failed to lift the fortunes of those who toil within it,” he added.
In 2023, Philippine Statistics Authority data showed poverty incidence at 27% for farmers and 27.4% for fisherfolk.
Villanueva said giving Filipino farmers and fisherfolk a reliable source of retirement benefits and social security is well past its due.
“Sa kabila ng lahat ng kanilang sakripisyo, ipadama naman natin sa ating magsasaka at mangingisda na may masasandalan sila sa kanilang pagtanda,” Villanueva added. (UnliNews Online)
