Pag-Ibig grants P4.4B in loans, benefits in Quarter 1

Close to 300,000 Pag-IBIG Fund members took out P4.4-billion-worth of loans and benefits from the housing institutions in the first quarter of the year, Fund officials disclosed recently.

Pag-IBIG Fund chairman Michael Defensor said 261,498 Fund members availed themselves of multi-purpose loans (MPL) with a gross value of P2.696 billion from January to March this year.

The Fund also approved and released more than P1.266 billion for the construction or purchase of 5,989 housing units during the same period.

In addition to these loans, Pag-IBIG returned over P479.98 million worth of Provident Fund contributions and savings to 21,325 members.

Noting that Pag-IBIG Fund posted a first quarter net income of P1.716 billion, Defensor commended Fund officers led by president and CEO Manuel Crisostomo for "improving Pag-IBIG’s services while sustaining its viability."

The Fund’s total assets reached P117.42 billion by end of March, Crisostomo said in a report to Defensor.

But Defensor urged Pag-IBIG not to "sit on its laurels", saying that the Fund should exert all efforts to encourage members to realize their dream of owning a home through the Fund.

He said Pag-IBIG’s retail housing loans, such as the Expanded Housing Loan Program, Group Land Acquisition and Development (GLAD) and the Pag-IBIG Overseas Program should now be "aggressively marketed."

Pag-IBIG’s current "bestselling product," the Multi-Purpose Loan (MPL), is a short-term program available to Fund members who have paid at least 24 monthly contributions which they can use for minor home improvement, livelihood, tuition, appliance purchase and others.