Wednesday, May 14, 2008 Gov’t housing program more accessible now - agency chief
AN official of the Home Development Mutual Fund (Pag-IBIG) said the agency has made its housing loan program more accessible to members.
Pag-IBIG president and chief executive officer Romero Federico S. Quimbo, in his speech during the induction of officers of the Subdivision and Housing Developer Association Inc. (SHDA)-Central Visayas, said the agency has caused housing development in the country to go up.
Under the Kabayan program of Vice President Noli de Castro, Pag-IBIG has made housing loans more affordable. But even in 2001, under the chairmanship of then Secretary Mike Defensor, Pag-IBIG began a series of reforms to liberalize its housing loan program and make it accessible to more members, Quimbo said.
He said the current interest rate on Pag-IBIG’s housing loan is even lower than that in 2001, making monthly amortizations more affordable.
“A P300,000-housing loan taken out in 2001 had an interest rate of 12 percent.
Today, the interest rate for the same loan amount is half that, at only six percent,” he said.
He said that for the highest loan package of P750,000 to P2 million, the interest rate of 14 percent in 2001 is now only 10.5 percent.
Impact
In 2001, the monthly amortization for a housing loan of P300,000 was P3,085.
Today, the monthly payment for the same loan amount is P1,798 for 30 years.
“This has had a great impact on Pag-IBIG members who want to buy their homes,” Quimbo said. “Halos kalahati na lang ang babayaran ng borrower sa principal at interest kada buwan (The monthly amortization on the principal and interest is nearly half of what was required in the past),” he said.
This has also resulted in further growth in Pag-IBIG.
“In fact, Pag-IBIG is the only government institution rated ‘AAA’ by the Philippine Ratings Services,” Quimbo said.
Jesus Atencio, president of Deca Homes and past national president of SHDA, said Pag-IBIG is the sole factor behind the growth in the housing industry.
The SHDA, comprised of 16 subdivision and housing developers in Central Visayas, is considered by Pag-IBIG as an “ally” in achieving the government’s thrust to provide housing for more Filipinos.
“I am pretty sure that when there is SHDA in the area, there is housing development,” Quimbo said in his speech during the SHDA induction.
One of the advisors and forerunner of SHDA-Central Visayas Marge Matheu, project manager of San Pio Village in Dumlog, Talisay City, said all members of the organization are engaged in the housing construction business.
“This differentiates us from other real estate organizations here (Cental Visayas),” said Mattheu.
Other issues discussed by the SHDA included the need for the group to make a strong representation with concern government agencies, especially the Land Management Bureau, to hasten processing of documents.
The group also wants to seek discounts from suppliers of construction materials, such as cement, steel and others.
SHDA is also opposing the land conversion moratorium implemented recently by President Arroyo to address the rice crisis.
Atencio said conversion of agricultural land to other purposes cannot be blamed for the rice crisis.
“In fact, only about .36 percent of those converted have been used for housing purposes. That’s according to government data,” he added.
The new officers of the SHDA are engineer Rey L. Ralota of Ramman Realty and Development Corp. as president; Ariel Jose S. Mercado of Commonwealth Estates Inc., vice president; Prescilla Y. Nepomuceno of Johanna Legacy Homes Inc., secretary; Rosiefe E. Pagaran, Crown Communities Inc., treasurer; and Glenn Lim of Keinrich Development Corp., auditor.
Also present during the induction of SHDA officers were officials from Cebu City and Lapu-Lapu City offices of Pag-IBIG. (RRM)
