Farmer-members of the Malinao Dam Federation of Irrigators’ Association (MADFIA), Inc. in Bohol now enjoy improved productivity and income with the help of a four-wheeled tractor and two rice combine harvesters which the federation acquired through the Agricultural Competitive Enhancement Fund (ACEF) Lending Program of the Department of Agriculture (DA) and Land Bank of the Philippines (LANDBANK).
PILAR, Bohol – Two years ago, farmer-members of the Malinao Dam Federation of Irrigators’ Association (MADFIA), Inc. in the towns of Pilar and Dagohoy in the province of Bohol shared the hardships brought about by traditional palay production. From tilling the soil to harvesting the rice crops from the fields, they only depend on their trusted carabaos and obsolete farming methods as they worked under the sun for more than eight hours a day.
Despite all their labor and hard work, MADFIA President Kim L. Doroy said that it was extremely challenging to earn a living from growing palay in a traditional way, especially during bad weather.
“Sobrang hirap. Nakikita ko na bawat isa sa miyembro namin ay talagang ibinubuhos ang lahat ng kakayahan sa sakahan para mabuhay. Tapos minsan naaabutan ng ulan, naaabutan ng bagyo, kaya yung kita namin ay talagang bumabagsak,” he said, noting that this vicious cycle also triggered food shortage in the province.
The difficulties and uncertainties facing their members prompted MADFIA to avail of a P4.9-million term loan from the Land Bank of the Philippines (LANDBANK) in 2018, under the Agricultural Competitive Enhancement Fund (ACEF) Lending Program, for the acquisition of farm machineries and post-harvest facilities.
Through LANDBANK, MADFIA was able to acquire two brand-new units of rice combine harvesters that same year, and in 2019, they were able to purchase a brand-new four-wheeled tractor unit to help them quickly prepare rice paddies for the planting season.
With the mechanization of rice farming methods, the productivity and income of the 4,963 rice farmers from 17 irrigators’ associations under MADFIA significantly increased.
From spending three to four days and employing three farm workers to prepare one hectare of farmland, they can now complete the job for only two hours with the use of a tractor and just one operator. Harvesting a hectare of rice field was also reduced to two hours and one farm worker with the help of the harvester, instead of the conventional two to three days that requires 16 farm workers.
In terms of profit, the farmers were able to earn 40% more every cropping season. And since the time they spend in their rice fields was shortened, some of them were able to get additional income from growing other food crops such as vegetables and corn.
“Napagaan ‘yung buhay namin, medyo guminhawa. Nakapag-ipon kami ng panustos sa pag-aaral ng aming mga anak at puhunan sa paghahanda sa susunod na season ng pagtatanim. Ngayong may pandemic, may quarantine, ang laking naitulong dahil iilan lang ‘yung pwedeng makalabas. Kasi sa harvester at tractor kaunti lang ang tao na kinakailangan. Kapag wala kaming ganong equipment, siguradong taghirap na ‘yung mga farmers ngayon,” Doroy said.
Aside from MADFIA, LANDBANK through the ACEF Lending Program, has also helped other federations of irrigators’ associations in Bohol to acquire farm machineries and post-harvest facilities. In total, the Bank was able to finance 39 units of four-wheeled tractors, 10 units of rice combine harvesters, and 18 units of rice transplanters to these associations.
The ACEF Lending Program is a joint program of the Department of Agriculture (DA) and LANDBANK, which aims to provide necessary credit to small farmers and fishers (SFFs), their cooperatives and associations, and micro and small enterprises (MSEs) to increase their productivity, and to enhance the competitiveness of players in the agriculture sector.
As of June 30, 2020, LANDBANK has released a total of P2.5 billion in loans to 19,367 eligible borrowers nationwide under the ACEF Lending Program. Of the total borrowers, 19,189 are SFFs, 119 are MSEs, and 59 are farmers’ and fishers’ cooperatives/associations.
For more details about the Program’s features, eligibility and application requirements, interested borrowers may contact the nearest open LANDBANK Lending Center or Branch nationwide, or call LANDBANK’s customer service hotline at (02) 8-405-7000 or at PLDT Domestic Toll Free 1-800-10-405-7000.
2.48-M unbanked PhilSys registrants sign up for LANDBANK accounts
State-run Land Bank of the Philippines (LANDBANK) reports that a total of 2,481,788 unbanked Philippine Identification System (PhilSys) registrants have already signed up for LANDBANK transaction accounts as of April, 30 2021. This forms part of LANDBANK's partnership with the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) to co-locate during the PhilSys Step 2 registration and provide unbanked registrants with their own transaction accounts. Of the total 2,481,788 unbanked registrants, the Bank has already issued LANDBANK Agent Banking Cards (ABCs) to 850,875 of them—free-of-charge and without an initial deposit requirement—while the rest will receive their cards by July. Upon the invitation of National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Secretary Karl Kendrick T. Chua to co-locate with the PSA, LANDBANK aims to bank at least one household member of the estimated 18 million low-income households applying for the National ID and provide them access to basic banking services and emergency government subsidies. Previously, the PSA reported that 82% of the 10.52 million initial registrants do not have formal bank accounts. “LANDBANK is one with the National Government’s financial inclusion agenda. In partnership with the PSA, we are focused on opening accounts for up to eight million low-income, unbanked individuals from the 32 PhilSys priority provinces at the soonest time,” said LANDBANK President and CEO Cecilia C. Borromeo. Unbanked PhilSys registrants can avail of LANDBANK transaction accounts once they have completed the second step of the registration, which covers the validation of supporting documents and capturing of biometrics information. LANDBANK ABCs are given to unbanked PhilSys registrants free-of-charge and with no initial deposit requirement through LANDBANK account opening booths at designated co-location areas. Cardholders can use the LANDBANK ABCs to cash-in, cash-out, and transfer funds at any LANDBANK Branch or Agent Banking Partner. They can also withdraw cash at Mastercard-accepting ATMs, perform cashless transactions, shop online, as well as receive government subsidy digitally. Soon, the LANDBANK ABCs can also be used as contactless cards to pay fares in public transport modes under the Automatic Fare Collection System (AFCS) project of the Department of Transportation (DOTr). LANDBANK is tapping personnel from its eight Branches Groups nationwide, as well as accredited cooperatives, associations, small and medium enterprises (SMEs), and private entities as Agent Banking Partners, to assist in the account application and Know-Your-Customer (KYC) requirements at the registration sites. As of April 30, 2021, LANDBANK has co-located in 790 PhilSys Registration Centers in 10 regions, with additional centers in the pipeline as registrations continue to take place in 32 priority provinces nationwide. For more updates, please Follow, Like and Share the official LANDBANK Facebook, Instagram and YouTube accounts (@landbankofficial), Twitter (@LBP_Official), and join our Viber community (@LANDBANK), or visit the LANDBANK website (www.landbank.com).
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LANDBANK supports Agri-Agra Law amendments to expand loan access for farmers, fishers
The Land Bank of the Philippines (LANDBANK) fully supports the ongoing Senate initiative to amend the provisions of Republic Act. No. 10000, otherwise known as the Agri-Agra Reform Credit of 2009 (Agri-Agra Law), which will provide farmers and fishers nationwide an expanded and easier access to responsive agricultural financing. During a public hearing on the proposed Agri-Agra Law amendments on May 12, 2021, the state-owned Bank also welcomed recommendations from legislators to revisit its loan application requirements, specifically for small farmers and fishers, to make it easier for them to access financing. In 2019, prior to the ongoing Agri-Agra law revisit, LANDBANK started simplifying its loan processes to make the Bank’s programs more accessible to small farmers and fishers. First, the loan application form was condensed from three (3) documents to just one (1) document, and was reformatted with mostly tick boxes for easier completion. Second, the Promissory Note was significantly trimmed from 14 pages to only 1 page. LANDBANK has also consistently complied with the Agri-Agra Law, which requires all banking institutions to allot 15% of their total lending portfolio for agriculture loans and 10% for agrarian reform credit. As of December 2020, LANDBANK’s agriculture loans reached 76.95% and 11.52% for agrarian reform. Overall, LANDBANK’s agriculture lending has been consistently growing from P222.05 billion in 2018, to P236.31 billion in 2019, and P237.62 billion in 2020. Likewise, as of March 31, 2021, LANDBANK’s total loan portfolio to the agriculture sector also grew by 4.8% to P229.70 billion from P219.24 billion last February. The increase is primarily attributed to a 9.5% rise in loans released to small, medium and large enterprises. Of the P229.70 billion total outstanding loans, P36.27 billion benefitted small farmers and fishers, cooperatives and farmers’ associations, rural financial institutions and other conduits. In partnership with the Department of Agriculture (DA) and Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), LANDBANK has also assisted cumulatively 2,696,839 farmers and fishers nationwide as of end-March 2021. This represents increases of 14,147 beneficiaries from February, and 25,990 for the first three months of the year. Just last month, LANDBANK also culminated its Online Stakeholder’s Consultation Forum towards addressing emerging challenges and issues faced by clients in accessing agricultural credit amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The Forum facilitated knowledge sharing with key players in the agribusiness value chain to help the Bank further improve the accessibility of its lending products and services, especially under the new normal. Online survey and focus group discussions were conducted to gain insights and suggestions from farmers and fishers groups, agri-input suppliers, aggregators and traders, processors, and wholesalers and exporters. For more updates, please follow the official LANDBANK Facebook, Instagram and YouTube accounts (@landbankofficial), and Twitter (@LBP_Official); join our Viber community (@LANDBANK); or visit the LANDBANK website (www.landbank.com).
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LANDBANK unveils mobile savings account opening service
Clients can now successfully open a savings account with Land Bank of the Philippines (LANDBANK) using their mobile phone at their own safety and convenience without the need to go to a LANDBANK branch. The state-run Bank launched the Digital On-Boarding System Mobile or DOBS Mobile on May 12, 2021, which facilitates online savings account opening in as fast as 10 to 15 minutes without even having to visit any of its branches. Using the LANDBANK Mobile Banking App (MBA) available on Google Play Store or Apple App Store, interested clients need only to fill out application forms online and upload a valid identification card such as UMID, Passport, PRC ID, SSS, company ID or even school ID to open a digital LANDBANK ATM Savings Account. The LANDBANK DOBS Mobile eliminates the need to line up in branches to open an account, in support of the National Government’s Ease of Doing Business (EODB) initiative, as well as safety protocols amid the ongoing pandemic. “The DOBS Mobile underscores LANDBANK’s continued commitment to provide accessible, convenient, and safe digital solutions. Our digital banking initiatives remain centered on balancing service delivery while ensuring the health and safety of our clients which is of utmost priority,” said LANDBANK Branch Banking Sector Head, Executive Vice President Julio D. Climaco, Jr. The digital bank account opened using the LANDBANK DOBS Mobile offers features such as cardless withdrawal via the mobile app, and funds transfer and bills payment through both the MBA and the LANDBANK iAccess, among others. Clients can also upgrade the digital bank account to a regular LANDBANK Visa Debit Card by visiting their branch of account and requesting for a physical card anytime. LANDBANK as a trailblazer in digital banking Prior to the launch of the DOBS Mobile, LANDBANK introduced DOBS in December 2018 as the first online account opening portal among universal banks in the Philippines. This pioneering web application raked in various accolades for the Bank, such as the Merit Award for Technology Development by the Association of Development Financing Institutions in Asia and the Pacific (ADFIAP) Development Awards in 2020; “Asia’s Most Inclusive Bank” in the 2019 Financial Insights Innovation Awards; and the “Digital Trailblazer in Financial Services” award conferred by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). As of April 30, 2021, a total of 1.53 million accounts have already been opened through DOBS, which is accessible through LANDBANK’s official website (www.landbank.com) or through the Digital Corner of selected LANDBANK branches for walk-in clients. For more information about LANDBANK’s e-banking services, clients may follow the Bank’s official social media channels at @landbankofficial on Facebook and Instagram, @LBP_Official on Twitter, and @LANDBANK on Viber.
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