A LAWMAKER has flagged the state-run Land Bank of the Philippines for alleged failure to adhere to its original mandate of supporting marginalized sectors such as farmers, fishermen, and small enterprises.
In a privilege speech, Marikina Rep. Stella Luz Quimbo highlighted how the government-owned financial institution has increasingly focused its resources on large corporations, neglecting the very sectors it was created to serve.
Quimbo, senior vice chair of the House Committee on Appropriations, pointed out that LandBank’s current lending portfolio is heavily skewed towards large corporations, with 61.38 percent of its outstanding loans—₱694.55 billion—allocated to big businesses.
In stark contrast, only 0.09 percent of its loans, or ₱1.07 billion, went to individual farmers, with even smaller amounts going to cooperatives and small and medium enterprises (SMEs). This diversion from the bank’s original rural development mission raises serious concerns about its current priorities, Quimbo said.
“LandBank was created to serve the underserved—not to compete with private banks in funding large corporations. Yet today, it has become a profit-driven institution, focused on servicing big businesses while neglecting the sectors that need its support the most,” said Quimbo.
Quimbo also expressed concerns over the lack of transparency regarding loans contracted by local government units (LGUs), using Marikina City’s ₱3.6-billion debt as a case study. The city’s outstanding debt is larger than its annual budget of ₱3.09 billion, yet the details surrounding these loans, including their purposes and terms, remain unclear to the public, she noted.
Despite repeated requests from Quimbo for transparency, LandBank has allegedly refused to disclose critical information, invoking confidentiality clauses that she said do not apply to public loans involving taxpayer funds.
This lack of transparency undermines public trust and accountability, particularly when the loans are directly funded by taxpayers, Quimbo said.
“It is the right of the people to know how their money is being spent. The lack of transparency in LandBank’s dealings with LGUs is a violation of the people’s right to information,” Quimbo argued. “We need a full inquiry into how these loans are contracted and utilized.”
Quimbo called for immediate action to address these issues and for LandBank to return to its core mandate of supporting rural development and the marginalized sectors it was established to serve.
She urged the House Committee on Public Accounts to conduct a full inquiry into LandBank’s lending practices, focusing on whether proper processes were followed and why transparency has been withheld from the public.