Compliance woes stall Pag-IBIG home loan releases

MANILA, Philippines — The Home Development Mutual Fund, commonly known as Pag-IBIG Fund, is facing challenges in the release of its housing loans, with only a little over 50 percent of the target reached as of August.

In a briefing yesterday, Pag-IBIG Fund CEO Marilene Acosta said the agency is having difficulties in its home loans but remains confident that releases will pick up toward the end of the year.

In particular, home loan releases reached P77.3 billion in January to August, almost flat from the P76.94 billion in the same period last year.

This is also equivalent to just 54 percent of the target P143 billion in home loans for 2024.

In 2023, Pag-IBIG’s full year target was at P129 billion but slightly fell short at P126 billion.

Acosta explained that Pag-IBIG is having problems in terms of compliance of critical documents among member-borrowers.

“Sometimes, the CI (credit investigation) and inspection is already done but there’s a problem in the register of deeds, annotation of mortgage. We already have the funding allocation, it’s just some are yet to comply with the requirements,” Acosta said.

“The delivery is huge but the compliance, which we cannot forgo, is the problem. We cannot just lend without having all those because we also have the COA (Commission on Audit) to consider,” she said.

Pag-IBIG’s exposure to socialized housing units which are meant for members from the minimum-wage and low-income sectors is also facing challenges.

Acosta said the amount of loans is increasing because of the higher cost from developers but the quantity is actually lower.

Pag-IBIG is also taking out a few thousand units for the Pambansang Pabahay Para sa Pilipino (4PH) program in certain areas in Rizal, Pampanga and Bulacan but is also awaiting the titles and other critical documents.

Nonetheless, Pag-IBIG remains confident that it will still hit the P143 billion target for the year even with barely four months left.

Pag-IBIG remains at the forefront in home financing as it accounts for nearly 40 percent of the total home mortgages in the country.

Under the Pag-IBIG’s Affordable Housing Program, eligible borrowers have a special subsidized rate of three percent per annum for home loans of up to P580,000 for socialized subdivision projects.

Standing out as the lowest interest in the loan market, Pag-IBIG first offered the subsidized rate five years ago to help more members, particularly those from the minimum-wage sector, have their homes.

Currently, Pag-IBIG has 16.24 million active members. Its total assets stood at P986 billion as of end-June.