[ Manila Bulletin Online ] June 14, 2008
By MARIO B. CASAYURAN
The Senate, before adjourning sine die last Wednesday night, approved committee amendments to Senate Bill 1987 designed to help borrowers with delinquent socialized and low-cost housing accounts and delay any takeover of their homes by government financial institutions (GFIs).
"GFIs have agreed to relax the rules and have a formula that will help 265,927 borrowers and 849 community associations stay in their homes. This legislation will help borrowers more than the GFIs," Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri, chairman of the Senate Urban Planning, Housing and Resettlement Committee, said.
The same measure would be tackled by the Senate at its session hall when senators start the second regular session of the 14th Congress on July 28.
In defending and explaining his bill on the Senate floor, Zubiri said his committee has asked the GFIs "to hold off initiatives to collect delinquent payments and wait for this new scheme (because) we want them to collect as well as assure that our housing problems will not be compounded with housing ejections."
Zubiri acknowledged that various GFIs are ready to implement their respective restructuring programs "but bringing them together as a group had forced them to compare their programs with others (and) many relented to the more accommodating terms to help their borrowers."
These delinquent accounts are with the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS), Social Security System (SSS), Home Development Mutual Fund (HDMF), National Home Mortgage Finance Corp. (NHMFC), Social Housing Finance Corp. (SHFC), Home Guaranty Corp. (HGC), and National Housing Authority (NHA).
Qualified accounts are those where the original principal does not exceed R2.5 million.
"Common to government and industry is defining delinquent accounts as those with six months unpaid amortizations but we chose to be liberal and went beyond business-as-usual," Zubiri said.
The other amendments adopted by the Senate before adjourning last Wednesday are:
– Starting the coverage of delinquent accounts to those that have three months of unpaid monthly amortizations, down from six months.
– Extending the maximum term of the restructured loan up to the difference between the borrower’s age at the time of application and 70 years, up from 65 years.
– Excluding from coverage those accounts wherein the housing units have been abandoned for one year, from two years.
– Excluding from coverage those accounts under the HGC mortgage guaranty program.
The Senate committee report which sought approval of Senate Bill 1987 cited the following benefits once the measure is enacted into law:
– Condonation of all penalties and surcharges.
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