Housing

PRESIDENT Gloria Arroyo has signed into law a bill laying down the guidelines on how homeowners’ associations should operate and settle conflicts and ensuring they receive community services.

THE PAG-IBIG FUND IS GIVING out P8.5 billion in dividends for 2009—20 percent more than the payout made in 2008, according to Vice President Noli de Castro.

Dear PAO, We have been renting a house for almost 20 years now. The owner of the house is in Canada. Rents are deposited to the owner’s account since then. The owner will be selling the house and has asked us if we can vacate the premises within the next six months. My question is,…

CEBU, Philippines – The Home Development Mutual Fund (Pag-ibig Fund) Mandaue Branch has noted a decrease of around 6,000 in membership this year because of the massive retrenchment among companies in Cebu, particularly in the Mactan Export Processing Zone at the height of the global financial crisis.

HOME Development Mutual Fund (Pag-IBIG Fund) warned employers that have yet to register with it, or have failed to collect contributions from their employees or remit the same to the agency, to comply with the law by the end of this month.

President Gloria Arroyo motored to Rizal yesterday to visit flood victims who were rescued from danger zones and brought to housing units payable on installment for P200 a month.

MANILA, Philippines – The Government Service Insurance System (GSIS), the state-owned pension fund for government employees, has started the implementation of its one-year moratorium program for members affected by typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng.

IRR of RA9679

MANILA, Philippines – The government needs over P30 billion and at least 10 more years to completely relocate over half a million families of informal settlers near and around waterways in Metro Manila.

MANILA, Philippines – Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri announced that Congress has ratified the bicameral conference committee report of the Magna Carta for Homeowners and Homeowners’ Association Tuesday night before both houses went into a three-week recess.

State-run relocation projects boosted production of the National Housing Authority and helped strengthen its financing footing, according to an official.

MANILA, Philippines – State-run Home Guaranty Corp. (HGC) is allotting at least 3,000 residential units, mostly sequestered assets, for victims of the two typhoons that recently battered the country.

At least 400,000 squatters blocking key drainage channels of a giant lake on the edge of the Philippine capital need to be uprooted to fix Metro Manila’s flooding crisis, a government official said Thursday.

MANILA, Philippines—Vice President Noli de Castro has announced a three-month moratorium on loan payments to the Home Development Mutual Fund, better known as Pag-IBIG Fund, as additional relief assistance for members whose homes were damaged by Tropical Storm “Ondoy” (international codename: Ketsana).

State-run Social Security System (SSS) cut down the interest rates of its loan window for home repairs and improvements from 13 percent to 9 percent to help members affected by tropical storm Ondoy.

The government’s Home Development Mutual Fund or the Pag-Ibig Fund plans to hike the membership rate collected from local employees, a move which a senator said was ill-advised.

The Home Development Mutual Fund, or Pag-IBIG, announced on Wednesday plans to increase by 100 percent the contributions of employees receiving more than P10,000 a month.

MANILA, Philippines – State-run health insurer Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) is getting P5 billion in fresh funds from the proposed P1.541trillion national budget for 2010, Cebu Rep. Eduardo Gullas announced yesterday.

VICE President Noli de Castro has rejected the request of subdivision developers and condominium builders for an easing of a circular, which sets a minimum level of development before they can start selling.

The TUCP also cautioned the Home Development Mutual Fund (Pag-IBIG Fund) against raising its mandatory contribution rates, saying this would unduly burden its 7.4 million member-workers.

MANILA, Philippines – The Home Development Mutual Fund (Pag-IBIG) is planning to increase its membership contribution rate to further improve the agency’s financial capability and meet the demands of members for more loans and benefits.

MANILA, Philippines – The government has provided shelter aid to 120,000 low-income households annually since 2001, Vice President and Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) Chairman Noli de Castro said.

MANILA, Philippines – The Quezon City government has declared several parcels of land occupied by informal settlers as socialized housing areas.

ONE MIGHT SAY IT WAS HOUSING THAT brought the US economy down—and much of the world economy with it. It was, after all, the bubble created by the infamous subprime housing loans that led to the financial meltdown, tracing in turn to the US government’s laudable policy of making housing accessible to all American families.

Urban renewal helps to provide more homes for the needy “Hindi ko naisip na magiging ganito ang buhay namin. Akala ko, habang buhay na lang kami sa squatters. Akala ko habang buhay sasalubong ang amoy ng maruming kanal pag gising ko bawa’t umaga.” (“I never thought that our life could be this way. I thought…

The Government Service Insurance System yesterday unwrapped a housing loan package with a fixed interest rate of 8 percent and an easy repayment period up to 30 years.

A day after President Arroyo glowingly claimed achievements in improving the lives of Filipinos in a national address, Vice President Noli de Castro admitted the government’s unified housing program was an utter failure.

MANILA, Philippines – President Arroyo signed into law yesterday Republic Act 9679 strengthening the Home Development Mutual Fund or the Pag-IBIG Fund, making it more responsive to the housing needs of Filipinos, including overseas workers.

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No doubt the signing of the new rent control law has made a lot of Filipino home renters sigh with relief. Aside from the one-year moratorium, RA 9653 or the Rent Control Act of 2009 limits to seven percent the increase on units being rented at P10,000 until 2013. The law will primarily benefit those…