STATE-run Home Development Mutual (Pag-IBIG) Fund released P2.35 billion in loans in the first four months of the year to finance over 5,400 socialized homes for low-wage earners.
According to a statement it issued last Wednesday, Pag-IBIG Fund said these 5,411 socialized homes make up 18 percent of the total 29,310 units that the agency funded from January to April.
As of April, socialized home loans represent 7 percent of the record-high P31.97 billion total home loans released by the agency for the period.
“Socialized housing is designed especially for minimum and low-wage workers. With Pag-IBIG Fund’s Affordable Housing Program (AHP), we make sure that all our members, particularly those from the low-income sector, are given the opportunity to own a home,” said Housing Secretary Eduardo D. del Rosario, who is also chairman of the 11-member Pag-IBIG Fund Board of Trustees. “This is the essence of the ‘Balai’ (Building Adequate, Livable, Affordable and Inclusive) Filipino communities program of the government’s housing sector towards providing decent shelter for every Filipino family.”
Eligible borrowers under Pag-IBIG Fund’s AHP are low-income and minimum-wage sectors who earn up to P15,000 a month in the National Capital Region (NCR), and up to P12,000 per month outside the NCR.
Under the AHP, borrowers enjoy a subsidized rate of 3 percent per annum for home loans of up to P580,000 for socialized subdivision projects, and up to P750,000 socialized condominium projects.
In 2021, Pag-IBIG released P9.71 billion in socialized housing loans, a 37-percent surge from P7.1 billion in the previous year despite the COVID-19 pandemic.
The amount financed 22,028 socialized homes, up by 30 percent from 16,975 in 2020.
Pag-IBIG Fund CEO Acmad Rizaldy P. Moti said that the AHP’s 3-percent rate remains as the lowest in the market. This is the rate that the agency has provided for low-income members since May 2017. The HDMF can afford to offer this rate due to its tax-exempt status as prescribed under Republic Act 9679 or the HDMF (Pag-IBIG Fund) Law of 2009.
Aside from keeping the interest rates low, Moti said they have also kept the insurance premiums at a minimum so that borrowers would only need to pay a low monthly amortization of P2,445.30 for a socialized home loan of up to P580,000.
“Because of our Charter, Pag-IBIG Fund is able to provide the lowest rates for the home loans of minimum and low-wage workers,” Moti said. “And what’s more, qualified borrowers will never have to put out cash for equity under our [AHP]. All of these are part of our efforts to provide the best home financing program for our members who earn minimum wage.”