BPI reintroduces green financing product offer

CEBU, Philippines — The Bank of Philippine Islands is beefing up its loan offering for green projects to the corporate market in Cebu.

In a press conference held recently, BPI executives led by Eric Luchangco, head for corporate credit products re-introduced the offering of its 10-year-old Sustainable Energy Finance (SEF) which already released P115 billion to the market.

This P115 billion portfolio was distributed to 291 borrowers around the country, 29 of which are based in Cebu.

This time, BPI is leveraging the high interest of real estate sector for green building or sustainable building initiatives, said Jo Ann Eala, BPI head of sustainable energy finance.

BPI is classifying its SEF facility in three categories, these are energy efficiency (EE), Renewable Energy (RE) and Climate Resiliency (CR). The bank can offer as low as P5 million to P7 million loan amount to a single corporate borrower.

The rise of climate threat awareness among people, including the Philippines, particularly after super-typhoon Yolanda in 2013 led to active adaption among developers, companies to sustainable company operations.

Eala expects to hit beyond 15 percent growth of SEF loan take out starting this year, as BPI intensifies its promotion of the credit facility.

A 16-city study of the World Wide Fund for Nature ( (WWF) commissioned by BPI showed a few important things Cebu needs to watch out for.

“There is saltwater intrusion in the underground water supply of city because of heavy extraction due to the concentration of businesses in the city. On the other hand, Cebu’s uplands are noted to be vulnerable to landslides from extreme rainfall,” explained Eala.

The Philippine Green Building Code (GBC), enacted in 2016, when complied with, ensures resource efficiency in building design, construction, and operations among the code’s six components—energy efficiency, water efficiency, solid waste management, material sustainability, indoor environmental quality and site sustainability.