THE Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) has formulated a plan on how agrarian reform beneficiaries in Eastern Visayas can settle their delinquent accounts, the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) disclosed.
Rosemarie Arreglo of DAR Eastern Visayas Agri-Credit and Microfinance Office said DAR has coordinated with the LBP to help agrarian farmers cope with the burden of repaying their loans.
“We found ways on how the agrarian reform beneficiaries can pay off their loans without losing the opportunity to still acquire loans at low-interest rates to finance their farm operations and other livelihood activities,”Arreglo said.
The farmers incurred delinquency in loan repayment despite various credit assistance programs offered by DAR.
Restituta Ilagan, LBP Lending Center manager, met with the officials of the DAR Agri-Credit and Microfinance Provincial Office, citing those with delinquent loans could request for either extension of maturity of their loans, restructuring, or apply for the conditional condonation of penalty.
She said the LBP could only grant the request for an extension of maturity if there is a 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,” she added.