Pag-IBIG sends out big love to members

Dominguez cited Pag-IBIG’s accomplishment in 2020 of providing easy-to-pay housing loans to close to 17,000 of its members

State shelter financing firm Home Development Mutual Fund, popularly known as Pag-IBIG Fund, has grown strong amid the challenges of the pandemic, posting a net income of P31.18 billion in 2020, the fourth consecutive year that it surpassed the P30-billion net income mark.

During the virtual Pag-IBIG Fund Chairman’s Report 2020, its chairman, Secretary Eduardo D. Del Rosario relayed in terms of housing loan disbursements, it posted P12.11 billion in December 2020 alone, benefiting 12,275 members.

Pag-IBIG’s voluntary MP2 Savings Program, meanwhile, generated a record P13.3 billion in savings from its members last year, which constitutes an 11 percent increase compared to P12 billion in 2019.

Pag-IBIG Fund disbursed P7.1 billion in socialized housing loans in 2020, which benefited 16,975 members belonging to the minimum-wage and lowincome sectors.

DoF chief grateful

Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III commended the agency for its exemplary performance in providing affordable housing to mostly low-income earners, while expanding financial inclusion among Filipinos.

Dominguez cited Pag-IBIG’s accomplishment in 2020 of providing easy-to-pay housing loans to close to 17,000 of its members from the minimum-wage and low-income sectors, and the Fund’s high-earning Modified Pag-IBIG 2 (MP2) Savings Program that encourages its members to save and earn more from their contributions.

The Finance Secretary also congratulated Pag-IBIG for reaching an all-time high of P12.11 billion on its housing loan disbursements in a single month in December last year, which benefited 12,275 members, and said he looks forward to the Fund surpassing this level consistently each month thereafter.

“We look forward to new records that the agency will achieve this year. The housing program is a key component in our economic recovery strategy. This should help create more jobs in the construction sector,” said Dominguez in his message during the presentation on Wednesday of the Pag-IBIG Chairman’s Report for 2020.

More Filipinos benefit

“Pag-IBIG Fund’s strong showing despite the pandemic is a testament of how well the Filipino workers’ fund is managed. And, as we continue to support the call of President Rodrigo Duterte for government agencies to provide more social benefits to more Filipinos, we are giving back P29.40 billion, around 94 percent of our net income, to members in the form of dividends,” Del Rosario said

Del Rosario added that under the Pag-IBIG Fund’s charter, the agency is obliged to declare at least 70 percent of its annual net income as dividends which shall be credited proportionately to its members’ savings.

However, the Pag-IBIG Fund Board approved to declare 93.68 percent of its earnings — more than what its charter requires and the highest in the agency’s history — as payouts to extend maximum benefit to its members during the extraordinary times.