From national security to food security: Retired cop pursues farming thru LANDBANK

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LEON, Iloilo – From his sworn oath to ‘serve and protect’ the community for 25 years as a dedicated police officer, Ritchie Tenegra shifted his focus towards an equally meaningful purpose: food security.

He has since embraced retirement by pursuing his other passion of poultry farming, and is now one of the reliable food suppliers in this town.

At a young age, Ritchie saw the potential of animal farming through his parents who owned a piggery. He later followed their footsteps and established his own small piggery in his backyard in 2010 as an additional source of income to support his family.

While still in the police force, he had limited capital to start his piggery operations. So Ritchie applied to be a beneficiary of the Swine Dispersal Program of the Department of Agriculture (DA), and was provided his very first piglet that he grew and multiplied.

“Mahirap pagsabayin ang pagpupulis at pag-aalaga ng baboy, pero kailangan ng tiyaga dahil kulang talaga para sa pamilya ko ang sahod ko, lalo na’t may mga anak akong nag-aaral,” he said.

(It’s hard to be a police enforcer and raise pigs at the same time, but it takes patience because my salary is really not enough for my family, especially since I have children still in school.)

Encouraged by a fellow cop to diversify his farm with a chicken coop, he delved into poultry farming in 2013, starting with a mere 20 heads.

Upon retiring from the service in 2020, Ritchie dedicated himself to full-time farming, and applied for a loan from the Land Bank of the Philippines (LANDBANK) to expand his piggery. However, just a week after his loan was approved, the African Swine Flu outbreak hit the country, which devastated the local pig industry.

Eager to push through with his new purpose, Ritchie shifted his focus towards expanding his chicken coop through LANDBANK’s Agricultural Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (ACEF) Lending Program, where he secured a P1 million loan to fund the improvement of his poultry farm in 2022.

“Malaking tulong talaga ang LANDBANK sa pagpapalago ng manukan ko. Saan ka makakita ng loan sa bangko na isang milyon, tapos P20,000 lang ang interes taon-taon? Kaya malaki talaga ang pasalamat ko sa LANDBANK,” Ritchie said.

(LANDBANK has really been a huge help in growing my chicken coop. Where can you find a bank loan of one million, then the interest is only P20,000 every year? So I am really grateful to LANDBANK.)

From the 20 chickens in a 4-by-6-meter coop in his backyard, the loan supported the scaling up of his poultry operations to an increase in his flock size to 2,000 breeders, and the expansion of his coop to cover an area of 2,000 square meters.

In less than a year since his expansion, Ritchie has become a reliable supplier for the DA’s Chicken Dispersal Project, wherein they give away hens to aspiring poultry farmers—just like Ritchie once was. He has also become an established supplier of poultry products for local eateries and restaurants.

“Kung hindi dahil sa LANDBANK, hindi lalaki nang ganito itong manukan namin. Malaki talaga ang naitulong ng LANDBANK sa pamilya ko,” said Ritchie.

(If it wasn’t for LANDBANK, our chicken coop wouldn’t grow like this. LANDBANK really helped my family a lot.)

LANDBANK remains steadfast in its commitment to servicing the growth requirements of farmers like Ritchie nationwide.

In partnership with the DA, LANDBANK provides necessary credit to farmers and fishers, plus their cooperatives and associations, as well as micro and small enterprises (MSMEs) through the ACEF Lending Program, which helps increase their production and enhance their competitiveness.

As of January 2024, LANDBANK has released a total of P12.1 billion in loans under the ACEF program towards fostering sustainable and inclusive growth in the agriculture sector.