The Land Bank of the Philippines (LANDBANK) has countered the claim that it has
‘failed in its mandate’ with a report on its outstanding loans to the agriculture sector
reaching P271.8 billion as of March 2023. It represents 14.8% year-on-year growth,
with P42.3 billion of the loans directly benefitting small farmers and fishers
nationwide.
LANDBANK has remained faithful to its social mandate of promoting inclusive and
sustainable development, primarily by being the biggest credit provider to the
agriculture sector reaching all components of the agriculture value chain.
The Bank’s total agri loan portfolio has sustained its upward trajectory with an
average growth rate of 10.4% from 2012 to 2022, even as the agriculture sector
grew sideways by an average of 0.64% in the same period.
As the financial intermediary of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program
(CARP), LANDBANK has inspected and valued 1.6 million hectares of private
agricultural lands distributed by the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) to
958,623 Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries (ARBs), with 90,995 landowners compensated
amounting to P81.7 billion. The Bank has also extended P2.7 billion in loans to 2,356
individual ARBs and 469 ARB cooperatives and farmers’ associations nationwide.
Financial leader and digital enabler
Led by solid governance and leadership, the Bank continues to build its strong
financial muscle to support other key development sectors. LANDBANK recorded a
net income of P10.8 billion in the first quarter of the year, buoyed by higher
revenues and lower operating costs. The Bank’s assets and capital both expanded
year-on-year, while financial ratios likewise remain at healthy levels.
As the country’s largest GOCC, LANDBANK has the financial capacity and resources,
and experience to support the National Government’s development agenda. It is also
supportive of strategic measures to promote greater operational efficiency, cost
savings and stronger fiscal position to service the country’s development needs.
Meanwhile, LANDBANK is the only State-run Bank that has continued to ramp-up its
digitalization drive geared towards providing safe, accessible and convenient banking
service to meet the growing needs of customers, with a 30% growth in value of
transactions amounting to P735.95 billion for its major digital banking platforms in
the first quarter of 2023 alone.
LANDBANK likewise supports public and private partners to adopt digital payments
for disbursements and collections. The Bank has onboarded 890 government
merchants and 346 private entities in the LANDBANK Link.BizPortal payment platform
as of 31 March 2023.
LANDBANK is also the only government entity that offers an online ordering platform
for bond issuances of the government, most recently the Retail Treasury Bonds
Tranche 29 (RTB-29) of the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr).
Development partner of LGUs and NGAs
The Bank has maintained its dominance as the biggest development partner of the
Local Government Units (LGU) sector towards local development, with all 1,717 LGUs
nationwide maintaining deposit accounts with the state-run Bank. As of 31 March
2023, LANDBANK’s outstanding loans to LGUs nationwide have reached P94.5 billion.
Majority of National Government Agencies (NGAs) and other government-owned and
controlled corporation (GOCCs) also have LANDBANK as their major depository bank,
which also services their collection and disbursement requirements through the On-
line National Collection System.
The Bank also facilitates the collection of taxes for the Bureau of Internal Revenue
(BIR) and collection of tariffs and duties for the Bureau of Customs (BOC), while
servicing the payroll and grants of public partners and pensioners, respectively.
Extensive network
LANDBANK is the only bank present in all 82 provinces of the country, providing
accessible products and services, including to underserved and remote communities.
Bank touchpoints are composed of 607 branches and branch-lite units, 58 lending
centers, 2,906 ATMs, 224 CDMs, and 1,751 Agent Banking Partners POS cash-out
terminals. Clients may also access 2,391 PAPI ATMs located in 7-Eleven stores
nationwide.
Distribution arm of social protection programs
LANDBANK serves as the main distribution arm of the National Government’s social
protection programs, which include the delivery of cash grant to the 9.9 million
beneficiaries of the country’s Conditional and Unconditional Cash Transfer programs.
The Bank has also provided assistance to various sectors of the economy affected by
the COVID-19 pandemic, delivering social amelioration support to displaced workers,
small businesses, Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs), and PUV drivers and operators.
Through the years, LANDBANK has taken a more prominent role at the forefront of
nation-building: from providing reliable banking services and financial interventions,
to accelerating financial inclusion, supporting vulnerable sectors, revitalizing local
economies, and pursuing initiatives in support of the National Government’s inclusive
development agenda.
