Tinga says DBP deserves to survive merger; LANDBANK counters failure claims

The Development Bank of the Philippines should be the surviving entity if its merger with the Land Bank of the Philippines pushes through, DBP chairman Dante Tiñga said on Thursday.

Tiñga said the DBP should be the surviving entity “because of richer legacy, more extensive experience, and expertise, and better track record in development financing.”

He called LANDBANK  "a failure", a claim the bank countered by saying in a statement that it was the "biggest credit provider to the agriculture sector reaching all components of the agriculture value chain."

“If the merger is inevitable, the DBP should be the surviving entity because of its richer legacy, more extensive experience, and expertise, and better track record in development financing," Tinga said at a recent press conference.

“It’s more deserving to become the surviving bank. What is the record of Landbank? It’s a failure, it’s not been able to accomplish its mandate,” he added.

Landbank objected to the claim that it has “failed in its mandate,” citing its report that its outstanding loans to the agriculture sector reached P271.8 billion as of March 2023.

“It represents 14.8% year-on-year growth, with P42.3 billion of the loans directly benefitting small farmers and fishers nationwide,” Landbank said.

“Landbank has remained faithful to its social mandate of promoting inclusive and sustainable development, primarily by being the biggest credit provider to the agriculture sector reaching all components of the agriculture value chain,” it added.

Under the proposal, the DBP will be merged with Landbank, making the latter the surviving entity, and is expected to be the largest bank in the country in terms of assets worth about P4 trillion.

Data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas as of September 30, 2022, showed Landbank is the country’s second-largest bank with assets worth P2.76 trillion.

DBP, on the other hand, ranked eighth with P1.035 trillion worth of assets.

In April, the Governance Commission for Government-Owned and Controlled Corporations (GCG) submitted to the Office of the President its study, which stated that the Landbank-DBP merger could proceed without legislation. —NB, GMA Integrated News