Landbank life extended

MANILA, Philippines - President Aquino signed into law Republic Act 10374, an Act extending the life of the Land Bank of the Philippines (Landbank), otherwise known as the Agricultural Land Reform Code, for another 50 years.

Landbank’s corporate life was extended for a period of 50 years from the expiration of its or its original term of Aug. 8, 2013, renewable for another 50 years.

Landbank, the country’s fourth largest bank in terms of assets, funds the country’s  agrarian reform program and serves as the depository bank of government entities and agencies.  It also collects taxes and fees for government agencies.

It also the main distributor of funds under the government’s conditional cash transfer program.

Landbank officials said the extension would provide the state-run bank flexibility to sign long-term loans or issue long-term bonds and provide continued development financing to farms, microenterprises, smalland medium enterprises, banks and local government units.

Last year,  Landbank released P39.9 billion in funds to support the farming and fisheries sector benefiting 772,892 small farmers and fisherfoll.

“Landbank remains aggressive in channeling assistance to the farming and fisheries sector as we aim to further strengthen and sustain their viability to accelerate the development of rural economies,” said Landbank president and CEO Gilda E. Pico.

Of the amount, P39.6 billion was released to small farmers and P323 million to fisherfolk. These loan releases were channeled through 888 farmers and fisherfolk cooperatives, 313 countryside financial institutions, and 160 irrigators’ associations.

By agricultural activity, loans for crop production reached P18.4 billion in 2012 while loans for livestock projects reached P3.8 billion. Other economic activities financed by Landbank last year include wholesale and retail trade, manufacturing, agri-processing and fishery.

Regions with the highest loan releases to small farmers and fisherfolk are Central Luzon with P9.9 billion followed by Cagayan Valley with P5.1 billion, and Central Visayas with P4.9 billion.

Meanwhile, Landbank’’s loans to its priority sectors amounted to P205.3 billion in 2012, 19 percent higher than  the previous year’s  P172.1 billion.  of the total,  75 percent of P205.3 billion made up Landbank’s gross loan portfolio amounting to P273.8 billion.