In a press release issued on Thursday, Pag-IBIG announced that they have released a record-high PHP118 billion in home loans last year, which is higher by 21 percent, or a total of PHP20.57 billion, compared to the PHP97.28 billion in home loans released in 2021.
With the amount, Pag-IBIG financed the acquisition and construction of 105,212 homes for its members, equivalent to an 11 percent increase from the 94,533 homes financed in 2021, setting a new record high.
“This is very good news because as the amount of home loans we release increases, so does the number of Filipinos who now have homes of their own,” said Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) Secretary Jose Rizalino Acuzar, who also heads the 11-member Pag-IBIG Fund Board of Trustees.
“Pag-IBIG Fund’s performance is a testament to our united and unwavering efforts to resolve the country’s housing backlog, in line with the objective of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. under the Pambansang Pabahay Para sa Pilipino Program,” he said.
The Pambansang Pabahay Para sa Pilipino Program is a flagship program of Marcos that is aimed at addressing the country’s housing needs by building 1 million houses each year for the next six years.
Marcos earlier expressed the need to provide families with shelter most especially the poor residents, as well as those employed people who struggle to have decent housing.
Meanwhile, Pag-IBIG Fund Chief Executive Officer Marilene Acosta noted that the number of housing units financed in 2022 also marks the first time that the agency has financed more than 100,000 housing units in a single year.
Acosta added that out of the said number of housing units financed by the agency last year, 18,657, or 18 percent, were socialized housing units availed by members from the minimum-wage and low-income sectors.
“We at Pag-IBIG Fund have always strived to provide our members — the Filipino workers — the means to have their own homes through affordable shelter financing. That is why we take great pride in achieving a record high number of housing units financed in 2022, because it means that we have empowered even more Filipinos in gaining their own homes,” she said
For 2023, Acosta assured Pag-IBIG members of a continuous service providing them with the most affordable home loan in the market, so that they too can achieve their dream of homeownership. (PNA)