of the state-owned Land Bank of the Philippines and the Development Bank of the Philippines . He declared that the merged institution would become the country’s biggest universal bank, save the national government P5.3 billion yearly, and improve services to its clients.
LBP and DBP were created under separate laws. They were mandated – under their respective charters – to perform specific missions to achieve balanced national socioeconomic and agro-industrial development. DBP was supposed to focus on development-oriented investments and participate in “public-private partnership” business modalities that are normally shunned by private commercial banks.
Over the years, small farmers and agriculture businesses have reported that, ever since LBP became a universal bank, its commercial operations have dwarfed its loans to small farmers and rural entrepreneurs. Many of them complain of great difficulty in accessing LBP’s services. They are unconvinced that the merger – with LBP as the dominant entity – will make a major difference for them.