THE Home Development Mutual Fund (Pag-IBIG Fund) said it has granted P4.52 billion worth of socialized housing loans to 11,894 members in the first six months of 2019.
In a statement, the Pag-IBIG Fund said this amount represents close to 30% of the total number of housing loans provided by the agency during the January to June period.
A record-high 41,746 housing loans totaling P37.07 billion was granted by the Pag-IBIG Fund in the first half.
“Socialized housing is designed especially for minimum and low-wage workers. President Rodrigo Roa Duterte directed that there be government programs catering to this underserved sector, hence, we have this housing program that is suited for their financial capacity. 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,” Eduardo D. del Rosario, chairman of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) and Pag-IBIG Fund Board of Trustees, said in a statement.
Pag-IBIG Fund provides socialized housing loans up to P580,000 for a 32 square-meter residential unit in a horizontal housing project. Under the affordable housing loan program, Pag-IBIG Fund offers the lowest interest rate in the market of 3% per annum. As a tax-exempt agency, Pag-IBIG subsidizes the low interest rate.
“Our charter allows Pag-IBIG Fund to offer the lowest rates for home loans of minimum and low-wage workers. And aside from keeping our interest rates low, we also reduced the insurance premiums of our home loans. As a result, qualified borrowers under this program will pay an affordable monthly amortization of only P2,445.30 for a socialized housing loan worth P580,000,” Pag-IBIG Fund Chief Executive Officer Acmad Rizaldy P. Moti said.
