Agricultural startup gets P46 million DBP loan

MANILA, Philippines — State-run Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) has extended a P46.2 million loan to an agricultural startup to support its poultry project in Guinayangan, Quezon.

In a statement, DBP president and chief executive officer Emmanuel Herbosa said the bank has signed a loan agreement with Kallen Pullet Farm to finance the implementation of its startup contract growing project.

Herbosa said the credit assistance, granted under the bank’s Broiler Contract Growing Program (BGCP), would be used for the construction of two tunnel-ventilated buildings and the purchase of poultry equipment and generator sets.

“DBP’s intensified support to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) reflect the bank’s unwavering commitment to empower small entrepreneurs and to help bolster the country’s economic recovery from the pandemic,” Herbosa said.

The BGCP is a financing program under the umbrella DBP Sustainable Agribusiness Financing Program (SAFP) and caters to broiler contract growers seeking to expand the operating capacity of their businesses to meet growing demand for dressed and processed chicken.

Herbosa said the DBP remains committed to supporting small entrepreneurs through its credit and technical assistance programs to help the MSME sector steadily get back on track after being ravaged by the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

He said the ability of MSMEs to swiftly recover and adapt would bode well for the country in the long-run considering the sector’s contribution to the Philippine economy, as well as employment.

“DBP’s continued enhancement of its existing financing programs while pursuing more responsive interventions will ensure that MSMEs would continue to significantly impact more Filipinos,” Herbosa said.

Currently the seventh largest bank in the country in terms of assets, DBP provides credit support to four strategic sectors, namely the infrastructure and logistics, MSMEs, social services and community development, and the environment.

Despite the challenges posed by the pandemic, Herbosa said the DBP was still able to increase its lending activities in the first half of the year, with P364.4 billion in total loans extended. This was 15.6 percent higher than the P315.13 billion recorded in the same period a year ago.

Of this amount, P165.3 billion went to the infrastructure and logistics sector followed by social services with P77.1 billion, environment projects with P43.6 billion, and MSMEs with P29.6 billion.

Herbosa said the DBP was also committed to support the recovery efforts of the country’s transportation and tourism industries.