Make home loans accessible – Marcos

PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Tuesday urged the Home Development Mutual Fund (Pag-IBIG) to make its home mortgage financing more accessible to Filipinos to allow them to have a shelter of their own and address the housing backlog in the country.

Speaking during the Pag-IBIG Fund Chairman’s Report for Year 2023 at the Philippine International Convention Center, Marcos acknowledged the agency’s accomplishments, noting however that “we are far from declaring mission accomplished.”

“With millions of our countrymen denied the right to decent shelter, the stakes could not be higher. So, our task is clear: To build the most number of housing units by any administration,” he added.

The President said the challenge for those in Pag-IBIG, the housing sector, and the local government units is to translate the recent gains into actual homes people can move into.

“These homes shall be happy places where our kababayans can raise their families, spend the best years of their lives — creating joyful memories with those that they love,” Marcos said.

The Marcos administration has implemented the Pambansang Pabahay Para sa Pilipino Housing Program aimed at addressing the need for decent housing and to build on the potential impact of a robust sector on the growing economy.

It has an ambitious goal of building one million low-cost housing units every year until the end of the President’s term.

Marcos also highlighted Pag-IBIG Fund’s accomplishments such as achieving the highest housing loan at P126.04 billion, aiding more than 96,000 Pag-IBIG Fund members gain new or better homes.

Pag-IBIG posted Short Term Loans amounting to P59.31 billion, covering 2.65 million members and an annual net income of P43.79 billion.

It has highest total assets at P925.61 billion and highest member dividends amounting P48.76 billion.