After 25 years in service, retired policeman Ritchie Tenegra ventured into poultry farming, and through LANDBANK’s support, now contributes to enhancing food security for the local community.
LEON, Iloilo – From his sworn oath to ‘serve and protect’ the community for 25 years as a dedicated police officer, Ritchie Tenegra shifted his focus towards an equally meaningful purpose: food security.
He has since embraced retirement by pursuing his other passion of poultry farming, and is now one of the reliable food suppliers in this town.
At a young age, Ritchie saw the potential of animal farming through his parents who owned a piggery. He later followed their footsteps and established his own small piggery in his backyard in 2010 as an additional source of income to support his family.
While still in the police force, he had limited capital to start his piggery operations. So Ritchie applied to be a beneficiary of the Swine Dispersal Program of the Department of Agriculture (DA), and was provided his very first piglet that he grew and multiplied.
“Mahirap pagsabayin ang pagpupulis at pag-aalaga ng baboy, pero kailangan ng tiyaga dahil kulang talaga para sa pamilya ko ang sahod ko, lalo na’t may mga anak akong nag-aaral,” he said.
(It's hard to be a police enforcer and raise pigs at the same time, but it takes patience because my salary is really not enough for my family, especially since I have children still in school.)
Encouraged by a fellow cop to diversify his farm with a chicken coop, he delved into poultry farming in 2013, starting with a mere 20 heads.
Upon retiring from the service in 2020, Ritchie dedicated himself to full-time farming, and applied for a loan from the Land Bank of the Philippines (LANDBANK) to expand his piggery. However, just a week after his loan was approved, the African Swine Flu outbreak hit the country, which devastated the local pig industry.
Eager to push through with his new purpose, Ritchie shifted his focus towards expanding his chicken coop through LANDBANK's Agricultural Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (ACEF) Lending Program, where he secured a P1 million loan to fund the improvement of his poultry farm in 2022.
"Malaking tulong talaga ang LANDBANK sa pagpapalago ng manukan ko. Saan ka makakita ng loan sa bangko na isang milyon, tapos P20,000 lang ang interes taon-taon? Kaya malaki talaga ang pasalamat ko sa LANDBANK," Ritchie said.
(LANDBANK has really been a huge help in growing my chicken coop. Where can you find a bank loan of one million, then the interest is only P20,000 every year? So I am really grateful to LANDBANK.)
From the 20 chickens in a 4-by-6-meter coop in his backyard, the loan supported the scaling up of his poultry operations to an increase in his flock size to 2,000 breeders, and the expansion of his coop to cover an area of 2,000 square meters.
In less than a year since his expansion, Ritchie has become a reliable supplier for the DA’s Chicken Dispersal Project, wherein they give away hens to aspiring poultry farmers—just like Ritchie once was. He has also become an established supplier of poultry products for local eateries and restaurants.
“Kung hindi dahil sa LANDBANK, hindi lalaki nang ganito itong manukan namin. Malaki talaga ang naitulong ng LANDBANK sa pamilya ko,” said Ritchie.
(If it wasn't for LANDBANK, our chicken coop wouldn't grow like this. LANDBANK really helped my family a lot.)
LANDBANK remains steadfast in its commitment to servicing the growth requirements of farmers like Ritchie nationwide.
In partnership with the DA, LANDBANK provides necessary credit to farmers and fishers, plus their cooperatives and associations, as well as micro and small enterprises (MSMEs) through the ACEF Lending Program, which helps increase their production and enhance their competitiveness.
As of January 2024, LANDBANK has released a total of P12.1 billion in loans under the ACEF program towards fostering sustainable and inclusive growth in the agriculture sector.
ABOUT LANDBANK
LANDBANK is the largest development financial institution in the country promoting financial inclusion, digital transformation and sustainable development to benefit Filipinos. It is committed to provide accessible and responsive financing to drive the agriculture sector’s productivity and competitiveness, while championing sustainable development in the countryside.
LANDBANK backs bulk of ₱100-B PSALM power loan
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LANDBANK backs PNP retirees in streamlining pensions
Streamlining PNP Pensions: PNP Chief of Police General Nicolas Torre III (5th from left) and LANDBANK President and CEO Lynette V. Ortiz (4th from left) lead the signing of the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) to streamline the disbursement of pension and other retirement benefits for retired police personnel, held on 14 August 2025 at the PNP National Headquarters in Quezon City. Joining them from LANDBANK are Executive Vice President Liduvino S. Geron (3rd from left), Senior Vice President Marilou L. Villafranca (2nd from left), First Vice President Atty. Nikkolas B. Tolentino (6th from left), Vice President Hansen W. Chu (rightmost), and Assistant Vice President Marissa A. Garduque (leftmost). QUEZON CITY – Committed to delivering accessible and efficient banking services, LANDBANK has been tapped anew by the Philippine National Police (PNP) to simplify pension processing for retiring police personnel. Under this collaboration, active PNP personnel can now continue using their existing LANDBANK payroll accounts as their pension accounts upon retirement. This eliminates the need to open a separate account, saving time, reducing paperwork, and ensuring uninterrupted receipt of benefits for about 250 new PNP pensioners each month. “As the PNP’s depository bank, LANDBANK is honored to be your steadfast partner in making your financial operations more seamless and efficient. We provide a full range of traditional and digital banking solutions to support your needs, while serving the salaries and benefits of over 230,800 uniformed and non-uniformed personnel, and around 80,000 pensioners nationwide,” said LANDBANK President and CEO Lynette V. Ortiz. The signing of the amended and restated Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) was led by PNP Chief of Police General Nicolas Torre III and LANDBANK President and CEO Ortiz. Present as witnesses were Police Brigadier General Jonas Amparo and Police Brigadier General Marlou Roy Alzate, alongside LANDBANK Executive Vice President Liduvino S. Geron, Senior Vice President Marilou L. Villafranca, and Vice President Hansen W. Chu on 14 August 2025 at the PNP National Headquarters. In line with the National Government’s digitalization drive, LANDBANK is likewise encouraging the PNP to expand the use of the Bank’s Link.BizPortal for fee collections. As of June 2025, the Link.BizPortal has processed 2.9 million PNP transactions, with more than 2.85 million for police clearances. As PNP’s longstanding partner, LANDBANK continues to provide payroll servicing, fund transfers, bills payment, and investment facilities, as well as other digital and traditional banking services, to help the agency perform its mandate of maintaining peace and order and ensuring public safety. About LANDBANK LANDBANK is the largest development financial institution in the country promoting financial inclusion, digital transformation, and sustainable national development. Present in all 82 provinces in the county, the Bank is committed to provide accessible and responsive financial solutions to empower Filipinos from countryside to countrywide.
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TANYAG and Proud: LANDBANK at 62 honors champions of nation-building
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