Marcos calls on Pag-IBIG to make home loans more accessible

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Tuesday called on the Home Development Mutual Fund or Pag-IBIG Fund to make its home mortgage financing more accessible to Filipinos in order to address the housing backlog in the country.

In his remarks during the Pag-IBIG Fund Chairman’s Report for Year 2023 in Pasay City, Marcos congratulated the state firm for its record-high performance last year.

However, the President said that, “We are far from declaring ‘mission accomplished’… we have inherited a huge housing backlog that must be reduced.”

“And so with the same spirit, I urge the Pag-IBIG Fund to make its home mortgage financing even more accessible and to balance this with sustainability. This is to inspire Filipinos today, and the generations to come, to work hard to reach their goal of a house that they can call their own,” Marcos said.

“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,” the Chief Executive said.

In his report, Secretary Jose Rizalino Acuzar, who heads the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) and chairs the 11-member Pag-IBIG Fund Board of Trustees, said members collectively saved P89.26 billion in 2023, a new record-high for the amount of membership savings in the agency’s history.

For Modified Pag-IBIG 2 (MP2) savings, members also collectively saved a record P46.54 billion.

Acuzar said Pag-IBIG Fund also released the highest housing loan at P126.04 billion, helping to finance over 96,000 housing units.

Marcos said, “the challenge, including those in the Pag-IBIG, the housing sector, and the local government units, is to translate the recent gains into actual homes people can move into.”

The Marcos administration has been implementing the Pambansang Pabahay Para sa Pilipino Housing (4PH) Program aimed at addressing the need for decent housing and building 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.

Acuzar said about P20.17 billion approved loans were approved for the 4PH program, aiding the financing of 17,791 housing units.

The Housing chief said Pag-IBIG Fund is committing P250 billion until 2028 for the 4PH program. — VDV, GMA Integrated News