Landbank Financing Opportunity
By Danny O. Calleja
The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) here is encouraging Agrarian Reform Communities (ARCs) in Bicol to take advantage of the financing scheme made available by the Land Bank of the Philippines (Landbank) under the government’s Agri- Enterprise Credit and Agrifinance Service (Agri-Cash) project.
Lawyer Maria Celestina Tam, DAR’s regional director for Bicol, said over the weekend the financing scheme is provided for in a memorandum of agreement entered into between Landbank and DAR for its Agrarian Reform Communities Project 2 (DAR-ARCP2).
The project, Tam said, aims to provide financial services to agri-based enterprises in ARCs through selected countryside financial institutions, cooperatives, Landbank-assisted cooperatives, and other lending conduits.
Through the Agri-Cash, Landbank and the DAR intend to release up to P198 million in loans to target ARCP 2 clients until 2012. The project likewise aims to mobilize savings and generate share capital totaling P33 million for the three-year period, she said.
In a related statement reaching the PNA, Landbank president and CEO Gilda Pico said, “We and Landbank are pleased that, through the agri-Cash project, we would further help sustain the improvements on increased incomes, agribusiness and empowerment of agrarian reform beneficiaries and farmer organizations in ARCs.”