Duterte wants LandBank to ease loan requirements for small farmers

President Rodrigo Duterte has directed state-owned Land Bank of the Philippines to ease loan requirements in aid of small farmers, especially those affected by Typhoon Ompong, Malacañang said Thursday.

Duterte issued the directive during a meeting with Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol, Land Bank of the Philippines president and CEO Alex Buenaventura, and Development Bank of the Philippines chairman Alberto Romulo on Wednesday at the Palace.

“Ang gusto kasi niya, iyong LandBank bumalik sa kanilang mandato na tulungan iyong mga maliliit na magsasaka,” presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said at a news conference.

“Ngayon, kasi kinakailangan ng feasibility study, kinakailangang mga ganyan na hindi naman alam ng magsasaka kung paano i-comply iyan. Kinakailangan magbigay ng tulong sa lalong mabilis na panahon at huwag naman to insist on a long list of requirements, like any other unibank would do so.”

The Department of Agriculture estimated the damage incurred by the agriculture sector from Ompong reached P16.76 billion.

“The damages and losses to the agriculture sector caused by Typhoon Ompong have reached P16.76 billion, affecting a total of 636,908 hectares of agricultural areas with an estimated volume of production loss at 731,294 metric tons,” the DA’s Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Operations Center said in a statement. —VDS, GMA News