Why mutual fund should be integrated with Dept of Housing

National President
Chamber of Real Estate and Builders Association

One of the advocacy programs of the Chamber of Real Estate and Builders’ Association (CREBA) is the integration of the Home Development Mutual Fund (HDMF or PAG-Ibig) with the proposed Department of Housing and Urban Development.

As the government’s highest policy-making body for housing, its mandate is to govern and monitor all areas of real estate and urban development. It is therefore incumbent upon the department to orchestrate the collective efforts of the government’s different agencies so that housing production is raised to the highest possible level in the shortest time possible.

PAG-Ibig manages the provident fund of its members with prudence so that they can save for their future and meet their housing needs. By ensuring the viability and profitability of the fund, the HDMF makes shelter security easily available and affordable to homeless Filipino households.

Along this line, the Department of Housing will provide the safeguards that will guarantee the optimum utilization of PAG-Ibig fund for housing. As the government’s housing arm, it will draw up the most effective policies in accordance with a well-planned holistic development framework.

Like a conductor of a symphony orchestra, the Department is envisaged to be working together with all the agencies concerned in a resolute manner to coordinate things well and keep them in harmony.

We trust that in its 21 years of service to the nation, PAG-Ibig will continue to strengthen its commitment to housing via partnerships and cooperation with various government agencies. In a country like the Philippines, genuine team play is the surest road to progress and achievement.

As we would recall, Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s great leader, called public attention to the significance of cooperation in an essay that he circulated among his friends in 1958. Entitled Credo, it was published later on by Time magazine.

"The law of life, "he says, "should not be the competition of acquisitiveness, but cooperation, the good of each contributing to the good of all."

Regional Planning Session

CREBA’s first regional planning session which was held in Pampanga went well as 50 participants from the Central Luzon chapters (Pampanga, Tarlac, Bulacan, Nueva Ecija) expressed full support for the Chamber’s membership activation and re-activation campaigns.

The association’s by-laws, membership dues, formation of regional directors’ offices (RDOs), and reactivation of chapters and memberships were taken up during the forum. Sponsors of the forum were Central Country Estate, owner-developer of the Lakeshore (which was represented by its president, Arch. Nestor Mangion), Land Properties Development Corporation, owner-developer of North Bel-Air Subdivision in Bulacan (represented by Celso Ingusan, manager).

A similar forum was held February 22 at Camp John Hay in Baguio City for the North chapters – Laoag, La Union, Dagupan and Baguio City. It was sponsored by Lexber, Inc., owner-developer of Lexber Townhouses in Baguio City.