DA taps DBP for aid, loan disbursements

MANILA, Philippines — State-run Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) has agreed to serve as the disbursement channel for cash assistance and credit facilities extended by the Department of Agriculture (DA) to farmers.

In a memorandum of agreement (MOA), the DA tapped the DBP as its bank partner for the issuance of direct cash, loan subsidies and similar forms of financial help to qualified farmers, firms and fishermen, including agricultural cooperatives.

Under the MOA, beneficiaries of various DA programs may get their financial assistance through direct credit to their DBP accounts, fund transfer to accredited banks or cash out in DBP payout outlets.

DBP president and CEO Emmanuel Herbosa said the state-owned bank would work with the Rural Bankers Association of the Philippines in delivering the objectives of the MOA. He also said the DBP would coordinate with electronic money issuers to expand the reach of the project.

Herbosa said the DA would introduce an interventions monitoring card that beneficiaries can use as identification to access government programs. The card will be deployed within the year in time for the issuance in the fourth quarter of the second round of financial assistance to rice planters worth P5,000 each.

On the DBP’s end, Herbosa vowed the bank would coordinate with national agencies in delivering capital interventions needed by vulnerable sectors, such as agriculture, to survive the economic onslaught of the pandemic.

“DBP and DA will continue to work on an expanded alliance to promote the growth potential of agricultural businesses towards gainful economic growth for local communities,” Herbosa said.

“We are committed to provide faster, more reliable and more secure disbursement channels to facilitate the delivery of much-needed financial interventions from the national government,” the DBP chief said.

The DBP in June announced it would put up a loan facility where swine producers can borrow cash to repopulate their hogs and upgrade their facilities. Industry players can access the program to purchase farm equipment and build bio-secured pig pens, as they try to recoup the losses they sustained from the African swine fever outbreak.

The DBP has directed P12 billion for commercial hog raising. Further, it aligned P500 million for a borrowing program that small firms can tap to improve their facilities.

The bank expanded its loan portfolio by about 12 percent to P414.72 billion as of end-March from P371.01 billion in the same period last year.