LandBank to heed Duterte’s order

Land Bank of the Philippines on Tuesday said it will heed President Rodrigo Duterte’s order for a concrete plan to help farmers.

The chief executive threatened to shut down the state-owned lender.

“We take to heart the President’s message and will comply with his instruction,” the bank said.

“We shall be submitting the report detailing our plans and programs to further achieve our objective, before the end of the month.”

In his fourth State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Monday, Duterte tasked Congress to abolish LandBank “if there is no viable plan for the farmers.” He lamented that the lender was established to help farmers, but was “mired in so many commercial transactions.” 

“You better decide on that, I will give you until the end of July to give me a [plan]. Or else, I will ask Congress to reconfigure you,” he said.

It has remained steadfast, and will always be, in pursuing the mandate of helping small farmers and fishers, and the agricultural sector at large.

“We shall also complement this with our continuous effort to support the national developmental agenda, especially in alleviating poverty, and to fulfill our function as the main depository and servicing bank of the government,” bank said.

“We have heeded the call to bring our services closer to those who need them most and will further expand our reach through the enhancement of our customer touch points and service channels,” it said.

LandBank noted it will be boosting partnerships with cooperatives, farmer groups and associations as well as collaboration with other key agencies and government units.

“As a matter of fact, together with the office of the provincial Governor of Cotabato, we have a scheduled roadshow with initially 400 farmers, including those who never had financial access,” it said.

“This will just be the first of many. We look forward to more synergies such as this, to help us fully realize our President’s vision and our mandate,” it added.

As of first quarter of 2019, LandBank said its loans to priority sectors stood at P721 billion, up 20% from P600 billion a year earlier.

Its priority sectors comprises small fishers and farmers; micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs); agri and aqua-projects of local government units and government-owned and controlled corporations; transportation; communications; housing; education; healthcare; environment-related projects; tourism; and utilities.

Loans to priority sectors represent 93% of the bank’s total loans of P778.8 billion. —VDS, GMA News