VP urges GSIS, SSS to invest more in housing

After increasing Pag-IBIG’s investments for housing, Vice President and Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) chairman Noli ‘Kabayan’ De Castro is hoping for higher investments in shelter from the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) and the Social Security System (SSS).

Speaking during the Chamber of Real Estate and Builders’ Association (CREBA) National Convention in Subi last Friday, De Castro said his plan is based on the directive of President Arroyo to the GSIS and SSS in her state of the nation address (SONA) this year.

“My next step is to make sure that GSIS and SSS heed the President’s SONA instruction to increase their investible fund for housing,” De Castro said.

De Castro said he is training his eyes on the two government agencies for more investments because Pag-IBIG is already ‘overheating’.

According to De Castro, Pag-IBIG has exceeded the P15-billion mark in guaranteed housing loans from 2007 to the first quarter of this year.

Retail financing from Pag-IBIG has been going up from P10 billion in 2001 to P25 billion in 2008 and to P30 billion in 2009, De Castro added.

De Castro told CREBA that government support for housing remains strong despite the global economic crisis.

He said the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) has approved CREBA’s proposal to increase the ceiling for socialized housing from P300,000 to P400,000. – Pia Lee-Brago and Rodel Clapano