Lopez bats for 30-day grace period for residential rents

Trade and Industry Secretary Ramon M. Lopez said yesterday he would push for the grant of 30day grace period but not waiving of payment for residential rents to provide relief to renters and balance the interest of housing unit owners.

Lopez said in a radio interview over DZBB that he his agency will come up with an implementing rules and regulations to provide this relief as this has been provided for under the “Bayanihan Heal as One” law.

“There is no IRR yet, but we will come out with the IRR in less than one week,” he said. Lopez was looking at granting one-month grace period on payments of residential housing rents without interest or penalty charges.

But he stressed that renters must pay it later on a staggered basis over a six-month or 10-month period because the owners of these housing units or apartments also lost their income during the lockdown.

“What is clear is the one-month payment will not be paid on the second month, but it will divided over a period of 6 to 10 months to balance the interest of both the owner and renter because normally there is penalty or interest for late payment so that that is the relief under the Bayanihan. This is not waiving or non-payment of residential rents, just a 30-day grace period.” he explained.

Those residential unit owners who refused to grant this relief will be charged, according to Lopez.

In addition, Lopez said he would push before the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) for the waiver of onemonth rent of the spaces rented by retailers and vendors outside of malls like public markets. Several mall owners have already waived the one-month rental of their vendors as mall have closed for the time being.

Meantime, Lopez reported there were 59 persons and 37 establishments caught overpricing their goods not just in Metro Manila but outside during last week’s combined monitoring efforts by the DTI, Department of Agriculture, Department of Health and the Philippine National Police and the National Bureau of Investigation.