MANILA – The administration of President Rodrigo Duterte has infused a combined PHP53.3 billion in cash into the Land Bank of the Philippines (Landbank) and the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) -- the country’s two main government financial institutions (GFIs) -- over a five-year period, larger than the combined capital infusions from all administrations since the two banks were established.
Based on data from the Landbank, it has received a total of PHP38.79 billion in capital infusion under President Duterte as of Feb. 28, 2021, which accounts for 72.11 percent of the total paid-up capital of the bank.
The DBP got a total of PHP14.5 billion in capital infusion under the current administration, the bank’s president Emmanuel Herbosa said
Since Duterte took over in 2016, the government invested a total of PHP38.79 billion so far in Landbank, of which PHP27.5 billion was infused in February 2021.
This is in line with the provisions of Republic Act 11494, or the Bayanihan to Recover as One Act (Bayanihan 2), to support the institutions wholesale banking services and extend low-interest rate loans to sectors severely affected by the economic shock of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).
Landbank’s paid-up capital of PHP1.8 billion in 1992 grew at a slow phase, as the past administrations did not inject capital into the bank but instead issued stock dividends.
It was only during the administration of President Benigno Aquino III that the government infused capital into Landbank in the amount of PHP3.03 billion.
As for DBP, PHP12.5 billion of the PHP14.5 billion infused by the Duterte administration into the bank were in step with the Bayanihan 2 law provisions to enable the bank provide wholesale banking services and cover the loans and interest subsidies of pandemic-hit enterprises.
This PHP12.5-billion infusion represents 39 percent of DBP’s total paid-up capital of PHP32 billion. (PR)
