THE Chamber of Real Estate and Builders’ Associations Inc. (Creba) has thrown its support to the proposed bill of House Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo that seeks to establish a centralized home funding program that allows low-cost socialized housing within the reach of all income-earning Filipinos.
Creba National Chairman Charlie AV Gorayeb said House Bill (HB) 4886 is urgent and necessary had the national government been serious in addressing the country’s 6.57 million dwelling backlog due to lack of housing programs over the years.
“To fulfill its constitutional duty to deliver housing for its people, the government must provide affordable and long-term sources of home loans for the millions of homeless Filipinos, especially low-income earners,” he said.
Such measure aims to create a Comprehensive Home Financing Program (CHFP) that will make all income earners entitled to fixed, low-interest, long-term housing loans.
This whether or not they are members of the Social Security System (SSS), Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) or the Pag-lBIG Fund.
Per the HB 4886, CHFP will have an annual budget of P270 billion, of which P25 billion will be sourced through bond investments by the SSS; P25 billion from GSIS; at least P70 billion or all of investible funds for housing from Pag-IBIG Fund; P100 billion from the unused or residual agri-agra funds of banks; and a P50-billion government budgetary allocation to serve the informal settlers’ segment—all with mandatory guaranty cover from the Home Guaranty Corp.
The CHFP will be designed only for home-loan borrowers, with no component for development financing, to make sure the funds will be strictly utilized for shelter acquisition of the homeless, the then president said.
If passed into law, the bill will amend RA 7835 or the Comprehensive and Integrated Shelter Finance Act (CISFA) of 1994.
Creba National President Noel Toti M. Cariño said that these fund sources have been identified by different existing laws and the concerned agencies’ respective charters.
They only need to be integrated for effective administration to socialized and economic housing beneficiaries, he added.
Payable up to 30 years, the CHFP loans for residential units in subdivisions or medium-rise condominium buildings shall be P1.5 million and below at 3-percent fixed interest rate for socialized housing, and above P1.5 million up to P3,199,200 at 4 percent for economic housing which shall remain VAT-free.
HB 4886 appoints Pag-IBIG Fund to administer the loans with the National Home Mortgage Finance Corp. acting as secondary mortgage institution.
All income-earning citizens, who qualify as beneficiaries of the Urban Development and Housing Act and have not acquired housing assistance from any government institution, will be eligible for home credits via the CHFP.
Creba’s support to the Arroyo-authored bill stems from its five-point agenda for housing, a package of suggested reforms collectively designed to accelerate yearly housing output to the level of 500,000 units so as to build a total of 10 million homes in 20 years.
“Intensifying housing production is a win-win solution as it creates a wide-ranging economic value chain that positively impacts consumption, jobs and taxes and improves the overall quality of life of people,” Cariño said.
During the closing ceremony of its 27th annual convention held in La Union last October, all members and chapters of Creba across the country signed a manifesto urging Congress to pass the bill at once.
“HB 4886 is a complete package on its own, and we hope that Congress will steer its immediate passage into law to bring about the urgently needed panacea to our long-standing housing woes,” the two Creba leaders cited.