More Pinoys became homeowners amidst the pandemic—pag-ibig
‘WE recognize that one of the aspirations of our fellow Filipinos is to own their own homes and that is why we do all that we can do to make our housing loans affordable, accessible, and inclusive so that our members are able to achieve their dreams of ownership,” stated Mary Annette R. Samano, OIC, OVP Loans Origination Group, PAG-IBIG Fund, during the recent Businessmirror Coffee Club webinar titled, “Solving the Philippine Housing Problem: An Update.”
“As we all continue from the global pandemic, your PAG-IBIG Fund continues to serve you, our members, and our stakeholders always and in all ways. So, we remain as strong as ever and reliable as ever in bringing you our programs and services. We are happy to share that our efforts have translated into record-high accomplishments, and meaningful accomplishments because our record-high numbers are the number of Filipino workers whose lives, we have helped through our savings program, short-term loans, and housing loans especially amid the pandemic,” Samano continued.
According to her, amid the continuing challenges posed by the pandemic, the PAGIBIG Fund was able to release P100.8 billion in housing loans last year, the highest ever amount released in its 41 years history. She added that behind these accomplishments are the 102,938 PAG-IBIG Fund members who now have homes of their own.
How PAG-IBIG Fund came to be
THE Home Development Mutual Fund (HDMF), commonly known as the PAG-IBIG ( Pagtutulungan sa Kinabukasan, Ikaw, Bangko, Industriya at Gobyerno) Fund, is a government-owned and controlled corporation (GOCC) under the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) responsible for the administration of the national savings program and affordable shelter financing for the Filipinos.
Established on June 11, 1978 by virtue of Presidential Decree No. 1530, there were two agencies that administered the Fund – the Social Security System (SSS) handled the funds of private employees, while the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) handled the savings of government workers.
On March 1, 1979, Executive Order No. 527 was signed directing the transfer of the administration of the Fund to the National Home Mortgage Finance Corporation, which was one of the operating agencies of the then Ministry of Human Settlements.
Executive Order No. 538 was issued on June 4, 1979, merging the funds for private and government personnel into what is now known as the PAG-IBIG Fund. However, it was only on December 14, 1980, when PAGIBIG was made independent from the NHMFC with the signing of PD 1752, making PAG-IBIG membership mandatory for all SSS and GSIS member-employees.
The current state of PAG-IBIG Fund
AS of 2021, the PAG-IBIG Fund has 13.69 million active members, and it continues to grow as many Filipino workers entrust their savings to the Fund.
“For 2021, we posted home loan releases of P97.30 billion translating to 94,533 housing loan borrowers. For our short-term releases, we have released P44.30 billion or the equivalent of 2,090,851 short-term borrowers. Also last year, our total assets were at P740.53 billion with a net income of P34.73 billion,” Samano revealed.
“For the PAG-IBIG housing loan, our total loan takeout in 2021 is P97.3 billion, the highest ever in the Fund’s history. And if we add the P3.5 billion interim releases for construction and renovation, it’s P100.8 billion. We surpassed the P100 billion mark in 2021. This means that higher loan releases mean more Filipino workers have their own homes even during the pandemic,” she added.
In her presentation, the trend of housing loan takeout from 2017 up to June 2022 is going up. “The exception is 2020 because of the pandemic but last year, in 2021, it went up to P97.28 billion and for the first six months of 2022, we posted a P51.96 billion total take out again. It’s historic in the PAG-IBIG Fund for the first six months of the year.”
Lowest interest rates
BECAUSE of its Charter, the PAG-IBIG Fund is able to provide the lowest rates for the home loans of minimum and low-wage workers. The subsidized three percent rate was first offered in May 2017 to help more members realize their dreams of owning a home. Until now, the special rate still stands.
Aside from keeping its interest rates low, PAG-IBIG Fund also keeps 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. Moreover, qualified borrowers will never have to put out cash for equity under the Fund’s Affordable Housing Program.
“A member can avail of a housing loan for the following: a residential lot at a maximum of 1,000 sq. meters; even a joint residential lot. Borrowers can purchase a residential house and lot, a townhouse, or a condominium unit. They can construct a house on a property owned by the borrower or member or improve his house or re-finance his existing housing loan from other banks,” Samano said.
“Any PAG-IBIG member can apply if he/ she has 24 monthly membership savings under our PAG-IBIG regular savings; he is not more than 65 years old at the date of loan application and is not more than 70 years old at the date of loan maturity. Of course, he has the legal capacity to acquire and encumber real property in the Philippines, has PAG-IBIG housing loan foreclosed, canceled, bought back, or voluntarily surrendered, and if with existing PAG-IBIG housing loan or short-term loan (STL), payments must be updated,” she added.
In her parting words, Samano encouraged members to avail of the many services of the PAG-IBIG Fund. Housing Loan borrowers who have maintained the good standing of their accounts by paying their monthly amortizations on time may still avail of another loan based on the net value of their mortgaged property.
Through the PAG-IBIG HEAL, existing borrowers may apply for a loan at very lowinterest rates and under borrower-friendly terms, payable up to 30 years.
“Likewise, we encourage all members to sign up for the Virtual PAG-IBIG to transact all loans and even pay online. We also hope to partner with more banks and remittance centers to further serve our kababayans better,” the lady OIC concluded.