Land Bank grants P60M loan to oil firm as aid to Bohol palm growers

Updated March 02, 2009 12:00 AM CEBU, Philippines – The Land Bank of the Philippines has granted a P60 million loan package to Bohol-based Palm Incorporated as assistance to palm growers in the province. Palm Inc. recently entered into a Memorandum of Agreement with LBP and the Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation for the grant of the P60-million loan. PCIC will provide crop insurance coverage of the palm oil plant under its High Value Commercial Crop Insurance Program. With the loan, Palm Inc. would provide the planting materials and technical support to around 2,000 palm growers in 15 municipalities in Bohol. These municipalities include Danao, Buenavista, Mabini, Trinidad, Talibon, Pilar, Candijay, Inabanga, Alicia, Ubay, Carmen, Sagbayan, San Miguel, Getafe and Garcia Hernandez. Palm Inc. will also serve as the marketing arm of the products the growers will produce. Palm Inc. said it will buy the products from the growers based on the prevailing world market price. Palm Inc. President Joven Uy said the company will buy palm fruits from the growers to produce crude oil which is to be sold to refineries for final products like edible oil. With the insurance provided by PCIC, palm growers and their crops will be protected from possible unpleasant incidents like natural calamities including typhoon, flood, drought, volcanic eruption, earthquake as well as fire and other phenomena. PCIC will indemnify claims to LBP for the account of Palm Inc. or the palm oil plant grower. In a separate development, the 3,810 members of the Catmon Community Multipurpose Cooperative have insured their cooperative borrowers to PCIC under the Loan Repayment Protection Plan of the Term Insurance Power Packages. With the signing of MOA with PCIC, the coop has extended agricultural loans to their borrowers for livestock production, fishing, vending and crop production. — Jessica Ann Pareja/JMO (THE