Sees realities, potentials! Bank Chief Walks Ground, Boosts Mindanao Growth

Development Bank of the Philippines President Emmamuel G. Herbosa could be one of a kind in the banking industry, especially government financing institutions.

Instead of just attending Board Meetings to approve or disapprove development loan applications, Herbosa travels to the countryside and even goes to the most critical areas, especially in Mindanao.

In 2019, he joined Presidential Peace Adviser Carlito Galvez in an unescorted visit to the lair of former rebel leader Commander Bravo in Lanao del Norte.

In January this year, he joined me in a trip to Taraka, Lanao del Sur, near the town of Butig which is the base of the notorious terror group Maute to break grounds for the construction of DBP-funded Solar Powered Irrigation Systems and a Solar-Powered Water System.

On the way out, we dropped by the 103rd Base Command in Maguing, Lanao del Sur in a failed attempt to take a shorter route through the mountains that separate Lanao Sur and Bukidnon en route to Cagayan de Oro City.

The day before that, he was with me in the towns of Balabagan and Malabang where we installed three Automatic Teller Machines (ATM) linking the towns to the financial world for the first time.

Last Tuesday, he was back in Taraka again, this time to commission the first two SPIS units which would irrigate 700 hectares of fertile but waterless farmlands beside Lake Lanao.

Next month, he again will be joining me in a trip to Basilan Island Province to visit the town of Lantawan which had been chosen by MinDA as its pilot town for integrated and self-reliant rural development.

The deep involvement of DBP in the programs and projects of MinDA is the result of a Memorandum of Agreement between the two agencies which set provisions on a collaborative effort to fund projects identified by MinDA as critical to Mindanao’s economic growth.

It was actually the former Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) Chairman, the late Abul Khayr Alonto, who engaged the Development Bank of the Philippines in a partnership to provide financial muscle to the many programs of the agency.

The partnership, along with its alliances with foreign funding agencies like the European Union, JICA and others, has spawned development projects by private groups and local government units because of the availability of DBP Loan Funds.

The exposure of Herbosa to the realities on the ground had resulted in the crafting of many projects which could improve Mindanao’s productivity, lower poverty, sustain the gains of peace and boost the economic recovery.

Among these projects are:

1. The Mindanao Water Supply Program where LGUs assisted by MinDA could avail of low-interest loans to build water systems and irrigation facilities;

2. The Bamboo Industry Development Program where DBP will finance the establishment of Bamboo Plantations and Processing Plants in the critical River Basins of Mindanao;

3. The Mindanao Hog, Poultry and Cattle Development Program where DBP has allocated funds for the establishment of hog and poultry breeder and production farms and Cattle Fattening Facilties in several corn production areas of Mindanao;

4. The Mindanao Corn Industry Development where Corn Silos and Drying Facilties would be established in partnership with cooperatives or LGUs in the corn production regions;

5. The Mindanao Industrial Tree Farming Development Program where DBP has pledged to support tree farmers cooperatives in establishing a complete value chain from the planting of trees to the processing of timber for plywood and other products;

6. The Mindanao Fisheries and Aquaculture Development Program where DBP would fund fish cage farming, aquaculture, aqua feeds processing and even the establishment of post-harvest facilities in the different fishing grounds of Mindanao, including the “Food Boat” Project of MinDA and many others;

In all of the travels both Herbosa and I made in Mindanao, I constantly reminded him of the need for a development bank like DBP to act with urgency on loan applications from the different stakeholders in the region.

I had long wanted to correct the age-old malady afflicting government banks which sit on loans for years before deciding to approve or disapprove it.

“If it passes your evaluation and standards, approve it right away. If not, tell the applicant that his application does not merit the bank’s support so he could look for other options,” I repeatedly told him, a suggestion which he took to heart and agreed with.

President Herbosa’s continued journeys to the countryside has helped him appreciate the vast potentials and resources of Mindanao which could only be fully realized when government banking institutions appreciate the realities on the ground.

Herbosa stands out as a model for other decision makers in government who should not only rely on the reports written on papers or numbers submitted in monthly updates in making decisions.

Or worse, stay in the comforts of air-conditioned offices and make decisions and policies which are totally out of touch with reality.

I really wish we would have more Herbosas in government.

#WalkTheRoadSeeRealities!

#GovernanceIsCommonSense!

(Photos and drone shots were taken by the Media Team of the Mindanao Development Authority.)