Bankero Cecilia Borromeo, president and CEO of government-owned Land Bank of the Philippines, was recognized as a distinguished alumnus awardee for corporate governance in banking and finance by the University of the Philippines Alumni Association (UPAA).
Borromeo received the recognition for her career achievements from UP Alumni Regent and UPAA President Reynaldo Laserna, UP Vice President for Public Affairs Elena Pernia, and UPAA Board Member Romeo Nones.
The annual award ceremony honors graduates of the State University for their outstanding achievements in their respective fields of specialization and service.
Borromeo completed her Bachelor of Science degree in Agribusiness from the University of the Philippines Los Baños. She holds the distinction of being the only banker to ever hold the presidency of two government financial institutions—Landbank and state-run Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP).
Since being appointed as head of Landbank in March 2019, the bankero has steered the bank’s intensified support to small farmers and fishers, further solidifying its position as the biggest lender to the agriculture sector.
Landbank’s reach to small farmers and fishers surged by 270 percent to 3.29 million as of April 2022 from 889,669 in June 2019 as its total agri loan portfolio reached P247.85 billion in 2021 from P236.31 billion in 2019.
Borromeo spearheaded the expansion of Landbank’s development thrust to serve other key sectors in support of the Government’s financial inclusion drive, while becoming the country’s second largest bank in terms of assets and deposits.
Under Borromeo’s leadership, Landbank has maintained its dominance as the biggest development partner of the LGU sector towards inclusive and sustainable local development, with all LGUs nationwide maintaining deposit accounts with the state-run Bank.
It is providing unbanked Philippine Identification System (PhilSys) registrants with transaction accounts. As of April 2022, the Bank has onboarded almost eight million previously unbanked Filipinos.
Borromeo also steered the transformation of Overseas Filipino Bank (OFBank) into a digital-only and branchless bank.
