Pag-IBIG finances socialized housing loans

MANILA, Philippines — Pag-IBIG Fund financed socialized housing loans of 16,975 members belonging to the minimum-wage and low-income sectors in 2020 despite the pandemic, according to executives of the agency.

Socialized housing loans represent 27 percent of the 63,750 units financed by the agency, and amount to P7.18 billion out of the P63.75 billion in total housing loans it released last year.

“Pag-IBIG Fund’s Affordable Housing Loan Program offers the lowest rate and longest term for minimum and low-wage workers. Even as the pandemic posed numerous challenges last year, we were still able to provide many of our workers belonging to this sector the means to acquire their own homes, under the most affordable terms. This is our way of adhering to President Duterte’s directive to government institutions to provide programs that serve the needs of the underserved sector,” said Secretary Eduardo del Rosario, chairperson of the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) and the 11-member Pag-IBIG Fund Board of Trustees.

Pag-IBIG Fund’s Affordable Housing Program offers a subsidized rate of three percent per annum for members earning not more than P15,000 per month within the National Capital Region, and not more than P12,000 per month for members outside of NCR, who will buy socialized housing units. Under the program, members can borrow up to P580,000 to buy socialized houses, or up to P750,000 for socialized condominium units, at three percent per annum, a special rate provided to minimum and low-wage workers since May 2017.

The loan program also features a 100 percent loan-to-value ratio allowing borrowers to enjoy equity-free purchase of housing units.

According to Pag-IBIG Fund chief executive officer Acmad Rizaldy Moti, the agency is able to keep offering the lowest interest rate in the market because of its tax-exempt status provided under Republic Act No. 9679.

“Pag-IBIG Fund is able to subsidize the low interest rate that minimum and low-wage workers enjoy under our Affordable Housing Loan Program being a tax-exempt agency, as prescribed under our charter. We are happy that the new CREATE bill seeks to continue to preserve this tax-exempt status of Pag-IBIG Fund, and thus allow us to continue offering these subsidized rates. We are grateful to our lawmakers who share our vision to make homeownership attainable, especially for the underserved sector. And, as we continue to face challenges imposed by the pandemic, we shall continue doing our best to help more low-income workers secure their own homes where they can be safe,” said Moti.