The Home Development Mutual Fund, popularly known as Pag-IBIG Fund, continuously strives to be the Filipino’s dependable partner in acquiring affordable and conducive housing as it announces that it has already made its loan program easy with just a tap of a finger.

Just this week, Pag-IBIG Fund chief executive officer Marilene Acosta, based on preliminary data, said they have already disbursed P88 billion worth of loans in the first eight months of 2024, serving more than 55,000 members who are dreaming of having decent homes.

Further, Acosta, during her interview with the government-run television station PTV4, said the loans being shelled out by Pag-IBIG Fund have been indeed helpful in resolving the country’s housing backlog.

“‘Yung housing loan ng Pag-IBIG Fund fund, mababa ang interest rate, mahaba ang loan term, 30 years ‘yan atsaka madali na lang mag-loan,” she said during the televised interview on 15 October.

In 2022, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. vowed to build one million housing units per year until the end of his term to settle the government’s 6.5 million socialized housing backlog through the Pambansang Pabahay Para sa Pilipino Program (4PH), tapping the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) as its regulator, in collaboration with other agencies, housing stakeholders and the local government units.

Loan via fingertips

In terms of making the housing loan stress-free for Pag-IBIG members, Acosta said loan applicants can even use their mobile phones, laptops, and computer sets to avail of home loans.

“Puwede ka na mag-loan online. Marami na rin kaming online collection facilities. The interest rate for housing loans for minimum wage earners is only at three percent and the loan may be settled for up to 30 years,” she said.

On the other hand, based on the consolidated and updated report released by the Pag-IBIG Fund, said Pag-IBIG Fund disbursed P77.33 billion in home loans from January to August 2024, reflecting an increase of P383 million compared to the P76.94 billion released during the same period last year.

With this, Secretary Jose Rizalino L. Acuzar, who heads DHSUD and the 11-member Pag-IBIG Fund Board of Trustees, maintained that the achievement marks the highest home loan release for the January to August period in the Fund’s history, surpassing same period figures from previous years and underscoring Pag-IBIG Fund’s growing role in supporting the homeownership aspirations of Filipino workers.

“The continued growth of Pag-IBIG Fund’s home loan releases means that more Filipino workers were able to fulfill their dreams of homeownership. This is a step consistent with the government’s efforts to resolve the housing backlog and provide a better quality of life for Filipinos,” Acuzar noted.

Acuzar highlighted that the number of home loans released by the agency within the period enabled 54,063 members to acquire or improve their own homes, allowing Pag-IBIG Fund to remain true to its mandate of providing quality and affordable housing to more Filipino workers.

4PH recalibration

With regards to the 4PH project, Secretary Acuzar said his department is expected to complete 12,731 socialized housing units out of about 198,000 units currently being built, far from the 198,111 units target of the 4PH, as relayed by Navotas Rep. Tobias Renald “Toby” M. Tiangco, DHSUD’s sponsor during the agency’s budget deliberation at the House of Representatives last month.

The lawmaker said the government is having a hard time constructing a million housing units annually due to intervening headwinds, specifically construction delays and budgetary constraints.

With this, the Department, upon the order of the President, recalibrated its housing target, making the Chief Executive approve the utilization of a sovereign guarantee for the 4PH.

The recalibration means that the National Housing Authority and Social Housing Finance Corporation would use the sovereign guarantee as developmental loans to fund the construction of public housing infrastructure, according to Rep. Tiangco.

Tiangco disclosed that for 2024, the sovereign guarantee requirement is P108 billion; P783 billion for 2025; P1.468 trillion for 2026; P1.212 trillion for 2027, and P507 billion for 2028.