THE Land Bank of the Philippines (Landbank) continued the fourth year of its Financial Inclusion (FI) forum in Aloguinsan, Cebu in an event which gathered more than 500 attendees, majority of whom are farmers.
Aloguinsan is a fourth-class municipality in the western part of Cebu Province, where agriculture and fishing are major sources of livelihood.
Prior to Aloguinsan, the previous three legs of this year’s series of FI forums were held in the following underserved municipalities: Sto. Niño, Cagayan; Rizal, Palawan; and Libacao, Aklan.
FI forums will also be conducted in Mayantoc, Tarlac; Las Nieves, Agusan del Norte; Claveria, Misamis Oriental; and Polillo Islands, Quezon.
The half-day forum dubbed, “Ipon at Kabuhayan para sa ating Kababayan,” featured modules on financial literacy and Landbank’s products and services, particularly its lending programs for farmers.
Among the programs presented during the forum were the Agricultural Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (Acef) and Accessible Funds for Delivery to Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries.
Farmers who availed themselves of the Acef loan were recognized during the event, namely, Apdebafi Paraiso, Jocelyn Lapiña and Juanito and Vicente Secretaria.
“This is part of Landbank’s efforts in bringing our products and services closer to the countryside. With this campaign, we hope to uplift the lives of our fellow Filipinos, especially farmers and fishers, by helping them improve their income through the proper management of finances,” said Landbank president and chief executive officer Cecilia Borromeo.
Launched in 2016, the FI forum is an initiative of the bank in line with its financial inclusion thrust of serving the unbanked communities across the country.
Since its launch, Landbank has helped bring over 10,000 underserved Filipinos under the umbrella of formal financial services from 28 municipalities.
Also present in the event were Aloguinsan Mayor Cesare Moreno, Landbank executive vice president for branch banking sector Joselito Gutierrez and other bank officials.
During the event, Landbank also formally launched its first Agent Banking partner—The Lamac Multi-purpose Cooperative-—in Aloguinsan under its Agent Banking Program.
Landbank’s Agent Banking Program is targeted to further expand its reach in remote and unbanked areas without the bank’s presence, through partnerships with client cooperatives, associations, small and medium enterprises and private entities.
Through the program, Lamac can serve the public’s basic banking transactions such as point-of-sale cash-out, prepaid card sale, card reload/card refund/withdrawal, balance inquiry and bills payment. (PR)