History

Don Filomeno Ocampo Gana, or Don Menong as he was widely known, was a dedicated and concerned citizen of Biñan, Laguna who used his personal funds to help provide for the financing needs of farmers from the Southern Tagalog region going up Northwards to as far as Ilocos.

Mostly, he would do this in a personal capacity until the 1930s, when he formed the Banco Rural de Ca-Ba-lag to formally finance the production needs of sugar cane planters in Cavite, Batangas, and Laguna.

In 1952, a few years after the second world war, Don Menong incorporated the Rural Bank of Canlubang Planters in Canlubang, Calamba, Laguna, and asked the major local landowners to come in as stockholders, while maintaining a significant majority stock position.

Don Menong wanted to establish a new branch under the Rural Bank of Canlubang Planters, but the Central Bank of the Philippines ruled that rural banks could not open branches. And so, on May 7, 1955, Biñan Rural Bank, Inc. (BRBI) was incorporated with an authorized capital of P100,000.00.

Stockholders for Binan Rural Bank were limited to Don Menong’s immediate family. 90% of the equity was held by his four daughters and their spouses: Dr. Dionisio and Mrs. Amparo Gana Hocson, Dr. Angel and Mrs. Rafaela Gana Yaptinchay, Atty. Higino and Mrs. Norberta Gana Francisco, and Atty. Nestor and Mrs. Tomasa Gana Yatco. Nominal shareholdings were sold to his best friends, Don Eduardo Barreto,  former Calamba Congressman, and Don Felix Limcaoco, a prominent landowner from Cabuyao.

BRBI started operations on June 8, 1955. It was one of the first three banks to be established in Binan, along with the Philippine National Bank (PNB) and the Republic Bank. Deposits from the community were accepted by the bank and loaned out to deserving borrowers to be used as capital for different businesses.

From its first office at the ground floor of the Binan Municipal Building, Binan Rural Bank moved its Head Office to J. Gonzales street and opened an extension office at Barangay San Antonio in the 1960s. As time passed, Binan Rural Bank attained significant growth through the efforts of its directors, officers, and employees, and soon became one of the biggest rural banks in the Philippines, most especially  during the decades between the 1960s to the 1980s.

In the 1990s, when the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas allowed rural banks to establish branches, the Bank applied for and was granted authority to branch out to Carmona Cavite, to Sta Rosa Laguna, and to Sta Cruz Laguna.

More recently, Biñan Rural Bank applied for and has been granted an extension of its corporate license, and an increase in its authorized capital to 100,000,000. Its extension offices in San Antonio and Platero have been granted full branch status. In total, Binan Rural Bank presently maintains five branches: its Head Office at M. Manabat St. Barangay San Antonio Laguna, and four other branches in San Antonio Binan, Platero Binan, Sta. Rosa, and Sta. Cruz, Laguna.