‘Retain Land Bank mandate in DBP merger’

THE minority bloc in the House of Representatives will not oppose the planned merger of the Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) and the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) for as long as the former’s mandate to provide direct credit support to small farmers and fisherfolk is kept intact.

“We must stress that Land Bank is duty bound to allocate at least 5 percent of its regular loan portfolio for socialized credit to agrarian reform beneficiaries, small farmers and fisherfolk,” House Minority Leader and 4Ps party-list Rep. Marcelino Libanan said in a statement on Sunday.

“So long as this obligation to extend low-cost financing to farming and fishing