Pag-IBIG offers assistance to members affected by floods

MANILA, Philippines – The government’s top housing agency is offering loans to members whose homes were severely damaged during the recent onslaught of tropical storm “Ondoy.”

The rehabilitation loan being offered by Home Mutual Development Fund or Pag-IBIG Fund is on top of the agency’s three-month moratorium on housing loan payment.

Under the rehabilitation loan program, members can borrow up to P150,000, with an interest rate of eight percent per annum.

Vice President and Pag-IBIG Fund chairman Noli de Castro said members can avail of the rehabilitation loan within 60 days starting last Monday.

To qualify, a member must have made at least 24 months of contribution at the time of application, and that he or she should be insurable and not more than 65 years old.

A qualified member should also have a legal capacity to acquire real property and should pass the credit, employment and business checks of the Fund.

Members whose housing units have been foreclosed, cancelled or bought back are not qualified for the program.

Jaime Fabiaña, Pag-IBIG’s chief executive officer, said that interested borrowers may submit a duly notarized affidavit of claim, a barangay certification of damage to borrower’s property, estimated cost of damages signed by a licensed engineer and bill of materials and specifications for repair works or minor construction.

Like its regular housing loan program, the property should be covered by the appropriate titles issued by the Register of Deeds “free from all liens and encumbrances” and should be in the name of the borrower.

Earlier, De Castro announced a three-month moratorium on housing loan payment.

The moratorium and the home rehabilitation program apply to affected Pag-IBIG members in Regions I, II, III, IV-A, IV-B and V, National Capital Region or Metro Manila and the Cordillera Autonomous Region.

To qualify for the moratorium, a member-borrower must have updated membership contributions and housing loan payments.

The moratorium is in effect from Sept. 26 to Dec. 31. Applications for loan moratorium may be filed with the Pag-IBIG branches where the loan is maintained within 30 days from Oct. 5. –Iris Gonzales (The Philippine Star)