27/02/2025
What is happening to Government?
Hanjin P21-B Bankruptcy Haunts Philippine Bank For Agriculture
The financial wound caused by the collapse of Hanjin Shipbuilding investments in the Philippines is still fresh with the Land Bank of the Philippines losing P4.8-B in funds which were supposed to be spent for countryside development and agriculture.
All in all, the country's major banks, including the government-owned Land Bank, lost a total of P21. 42-B in the Hanjin bankruptcy considered as the biggest loan default in the history of Philippine banking.
The lessons from that failed investment by Philippine banks in a foreign investments in the country are very clear - Foreign Investors should bring in their own money when they come to invest in the country.
Obviously, our Economic Managers have not learned their lessons.
The Maharlika Investments Corp., a sovereign fund established by government supposedly to spur Economic Development in the country, has again invested in the Philippine affiliate company of an Australian Mining Corp. in the amount of$76.4-M or P4.4-B.
What ruffles the feathers of stakeholders of Philippine Agriculture is the fact that Land Bank of the Philippines contributed P50-B to the investment funds raised by the Maharlika Investment Corp.
It must be remembered that the mission of Land Bank is "to provide financial services to the countryside, especially to the small farmers and fishers, cooperatives, and micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), in order to generate employment opportunities and contribute to the overall economic development of the country."
Indirectly investing LBP money in mining to be undertaken by the Philippine affiliate of an Australian Mining Company simply strays from Land Bank's raison d'être.
Sana kung sa Agro-Forestry or Aqua-Culture or large-scale livestock production nag-invest ang Maharlika Investment Corp., mas katanggap-tanggap para sa mga Pilipino.
Kung malugi man o ma-bankrupt, may masisingil pa ang Land Bank unlike Hanjin Shipping which just packed up and left the country's banks holding an empty bag.
It is so sad that we never learn!
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(Photo credit: The Manufacturer)
