Top executives of Pag-IBIG Fund are urging employers with unremitted contributions for their employees to avail of the agency's penalty condonation program and settle their obligations, incurred before and during the pandemic — free of any monthly penalty charge on delayed remittances.

"We at Pag-IBIG Fund recognize the significant role that the business community plays in allowing Filipino workers to gain Pag-IBIG membership, and in helping our nation continue to recover from the pandemic.  That is why we are providing the means for employers to settle unremitted Pag-IBIG contributions of their employees free from penalty charges. With this program, we expect more Filipino workers to enjoy the benefits of being a Pag-IBIG member in line with the call of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. to provide a better life for all Filipinos," Secretary Jose Rizalino L. Acuzar of the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development and Chairperson of the 11-member Pag-IBIG Fund Board of Trustees said.

Penalty waived

Under the agency's charter, employers are responsible for the registration and remittance of their employees' mandatory monthly Pag-IBIG contributions, which consist of the employee's contributions and the employer's counterpart share.

With its penalty condonation program, eligible employers can now settle their employees' unremitted Pag-IBIG contributions without penalty charges.

Pag-IBIG Fund chief executive officer Acmad Rizaldy P. Moti, meanwhile, said that the program is purposely broad in scope to aid in boosting economic activity.

The program covers not only all unremitted Pag-IBIG contributions by employers during the pandemic but also all unremitted contributions even prior to the pandemic.

He also said that aside from having the penalty charges on their delayed remittances 100 percent condoned, employers who would be unable to settle their obligations in full may also opt for a payment plan that has a low monthly interest charge of 0.5 percent.