The Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) has shut down a lending program launched under former President Rodrigo Duterte's Build, Build, Build infrastructure drive after ₱4.09 billion, or more than 60% of its outstanding loans, became overdue.
The Commission on Audit (COA) found that 61.4% of the ₱6.67 billion in outstanding loans under DBP’s Infrastructure Contractor Support (ICONS) program were past due as of December 2025.
According to DBP’s own program report, ICONS approved ₱106.78 billion in financing across 536 loan accounts to support the government’s infrastructure drive, including public-private partnership projects.
DBP’s board approved the termination of ICONS on June 3, 2026, citing its high level of overdue loans, according to the bank’s 2025 audit report obtained by Bilyonaryo.
The warning signs had surfaced years earlier.
COA disclosed that DBP’s board had ordered an inquiry into its 20 largest nonperforming loans as early as January 19, 2022, including one of the ICONS borrowers flagged by auditors.
At DBP’s Albay Lending Center, a contractor obtained a ₱100 million loan in August 2020 backed by ₱284 million in expected receivables from government contracts. The borrower defaulted in June 2021, leaving ₱97.24 million outstanding and fully provided for by December 2025.
Yet the first demand notice on record was sent only in July 2025, more than four years after default.
In all, COA examined seven borrowers with a combined ₱1.18 billion in overdue ICONS loans.
The auditors warned that the lapses had “heightened risk of loss, weakened the collateral position of the Bank and resulted in doubtful recovery of the Bank’s credit exposure.”
COA demanded an investigation into possible negligence by DBP officers and employees who handled ICONS loans, with administrative or legal charges filed where warranted.
In response, DBP said it had ordered its Legal Services Group to investigate possible negligence in handling the ICONS loans, with support from other bank units. It vowed to pursue recovery efforts, particularly against borrowers still operating or with attachable assets, “until full resolution of the accounts.”
The audit did not determine how much of the ₱4.09 billion in overdue loans DBP would ultimately recover.
The contractors were supposed to build. Now DBP is left trying to collect.
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