TACLOBAN CITY – With the rising number of delinquent borrowers, the Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) offered remedial actions to agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) in Eastern Visayas, with past due accounts during the Local Project Management Committee (LPMC).
Restituta Ilagan, manager of the LBP Lending Center, who presided over this meeting, explained to the heads of the different Provincial Program Beneficiaries Development Divisions of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) and their respective Agri-Credit and Microfinance Provincial Point Persons that ARBs with delinquent loans could request for either extension of maturity of their loans, restructuring, or apply for the conditional condonation of penalty.
Conditional Condonation
Ilagan, however, emphasized that their office could only grant the request for extension of maturity if there is valid reason such as the occurrence of calamities.
Likewise, conditional condonation of penalties can only be approved if the borrower pays the principal loan in full and must not miss in paying the remaining monthly dues, otherwise, the condonation of the loan penalties will be forfeited, Ilagan said.
According to Rosemarie Arreglo, DAR Eastern Visayas Agri-Credit and Microfinance Regional Point Person, ARBs delinquent loans stemmed from the various credit assistance programs offered by DAR, which the ARBs had availed.
This is to help farmers acquire loans at low interest rates to finance their farm operations and other livelihood activities, she added.
Need to Register
At present, Areglo said, ARBs can avail of loans through the Accessible Loans for Empowered, Resilient and Transformed-Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Organizations (ALERT-ARBOs) credit program, which is jointly administered by DAR, Department of Agriculture (DA), Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Agricultural Credit Policy Council (ACPC), and the LBP.
DAR also offers loans through the Accessible Fund for Delivery to ARBs (AFFORD) credit program.
Meanwhile, on the same occasion, Rhodelia Austero from the Philippine Crop Insurance Company (PCIC) advised to register the ARBs in the Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture (RSBSA) to be covered of the free insurance up to ₱300,000.
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