Pag-IBIG lends P22.7 billion for housing program in first half

MANILA, Philippines - The Home Development Mutual Fund (Pag-IBIG Fund), the biggest financier of the government’s housing program, announced that it has released a total of P22.7 billion under its shelter financing programs for January to June 2010.

Pag-IBIG lent out over P21-billion in loans to individual member-borrowers which made possible the construction and purchase of 32,398 housing units. “This represents a 102- percent increase compared to the end-user disbursement of P10.3 billion during the first quarter of 2010. The figure also represents 90 percent of our P23-billion target for the period, so we are very much on track and might even exceed our target,” pointed out Emma Linda B. Faria, HDMF officer-in-charge.

Faria cited reduced interest rates and better payment terms as the factors contributing to the continued positive housing loan performance of the Fund. Under its end-user or retail financing program, Pag-IBIG has reduced its interest rates to as low as six percent and has extended amortization payments up to 30 years. The Fund’s program is deemed as the most affordable in the market today. On a daily basis, Pag-IBIG is helping an average of 177 members realize their dream of homeownership.

Under its various institutional loan programs, the Fund has released P2 billion, up by 14 percent from the P2.7 billion recorded for the same period last year. Developmental loans, released to developers or proponents of housing projects to provide additional housing inventories, reached P944 million and accounted for 46 percent of the total.  Meanwhile, the program for the development of medium and high rise buildings accounted for 32 percent with over P600 million in releases.

Meanwhile, Faria reiterated that with the signing of the Home Development Mutual Fund Law of 2009 (Republic Act No. 9679), membership to the workers’ provident system has been expanded to other income-earning groups effective January this year. “Pag-IBIG membership is now open to all Filipino workers, be they in the formal or informal sector, working within the Philippine shores or beyond.”

Under the universal membership coverage, the following are mandatorily covered by the Fund: All employees who are compulsorily covered by the SSS; all employees who are subject to mandatory coverage by the GSIS; uniformed members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, the Bureau of Fire Protection, the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, and the Philippine National Police, Overseas Filipino Workers, and Filipinos employed by foreign-based employers, whether deployed in the country or abroad.

The OIC added that “the universal coverage aims to strengthen Pag-IBIG’s membership base and expand the reach of the Fund’s affordable housing and short-term and competitive low-interest loan programs to as many people as possible.”

As of June 2010, Pag-IBIG has registered over eight million members covering both local and overseas Filipino workers. This figure represents 86 percent of the targeted 9.5 million membership level for this year.

For additional information on Pag-IBIG’s housing loan and membership program, members may call the HDMF Call Center at 724-4244, visit the nearest branch in their area, or log on to www.pagibigfund.gov.ph.