State-owned housing firm Pag-IBIG Fund has extended its cash loans payment from two to three years in a move to alleviate the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic to its members.
Chairman of the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) and Pag-IBIG ex-officio chair Secretary Eduardo D. del Rosario said the measure was implemented amid the difficulty fund members go through and to respond to their needs, according to a press release from Pag-IBIG Bacolod.
“Last year, we launched special programs such as a payment moratorium and grace periods in accordance with the Bayanihan Acts, to help our borrowers with their finances. This year, we are lengthening the term of our cash loans from two years to three years to give borrowers more time to pay off their loans, and more importantly, to make its monthly payments lower,” Del Rosario said.
“By choosing the longer payment period, members can enjoy significantly lower monthly payments,” said Pag-IBIG Fund Chief Executive Officer Acmad Rizaldy Moti.
This is the agency’s response to the call of President Duterte to provide the necessary services to help more Filipinos to recover from the pandemic, he added.
Pag-IBIG Fund’s cash loans come in the form of a Multi-Purpose Loan (MPL), and a Calamity Loan (CL) for areas under a state of calamity.
Also known as Short-Term Loans (STL), the MPL and CL serve as affordable and readily accessible sources of funds for its members. Qualified members can borrow up to 80 percent of their total Pag-IBIG Regular Savings, which consists of their monthly savings, their employer’s counterpart contributions, and dividends earned annually.
The proceeds can then be used to pay for tuition fees, medical expenses, minor home improvement, as capital for small businesses, or as an emergency fund during calamities.
He added that by their calculations, borrowers have reduced monthly payments by almost a third.
“With the average cash loan amounting to P20, 000, members pay P1,016.52 per month for an MPL, and P897.23 per month for a calamity loan under a two-year payment term. However, with the new three-year payment term option, the amount of each monthly payment will be reduced to only P734.57 a month for an MPL, and P615.72 a month for a calamity loan,” Moti said.
With payments spread out over a longer period, monthly payments were brought down by 28% for the MPL and 31% for the Calamity Loan.
“We recognize that these are challenging times, and we are doing all we can to help our members as the health emergency continues. From January to July alone, we have released P25.42 billion in cash loans to aid more than 1.1 million members,” he noted.
According to Moti, the agency is poised to help more members in the coming months, now that the extended payment term has made cash loans even more affordable.
The process of applying for loans has also been made safer and more convenient by accepting loan applications online via the Virtual Pag-IBIG. “This is Lingkod Pag-IBIG at work, especially when members need us most,” Moti said. (AAL/Lljr/PIA6 Negros Occidental/Pag-IBIG Bacolod).
