Tuesday, February 03, 2009 [ manilatimes.net ]
By Ben Arnold O. de Vera, Reporter
Two groups of real estate developers are backing up Vice President Noli de Castro’s call for the retention of the provision in Pag-IBIG’s charter that states that at least 70 percent of its investible funds should be to allocated to housing projects.
In a statement, the Organization of Socialized Housing Developers of the Philippines Inc., a group of socialized and low-cost housing developers, and the Subdivision and Housing Developers Association Inc., the largest organization of real estate developers in the country, said they had both written Sen. Edgardo Angara and Rep. Felix Alfelor, in support of the vice president’s position. Angara chairs the Senate committee on banks, financial institutions and currency, while Alfelor heads the Lower House’s committee on government enterprises and privatization.
These groups said that continuous access to the Home Development Mutual Fund, also known as the Pag-IBIG Fund, allocations for accredited developers’ mass housing projects would make housing more affordable for more Filipinos.
Both groups said they hope the lawmakers would consider the retention of the Pag-IBIG Fund’s clause, which provides perks for the housing sector.
Earlier, de Castro, who is also concurrent Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council chairman, objected to the deletion of the provision in Pag-IBIG’s charter that the state housing fund should “invest not less than 70 percent of its investible fund to housing.”
“Housing is one sector with a big multiplier effect on the economy. Every P1-million invested in housing translates to P16.6 million of economic activity in the country. At this time of the global financial crisis, we need to put our funds on industries that would stimulate the economy and create more jobs for our people,” de Castro said.
He asked Congress to retain the said provision in order to continue providing Filipinos with shelter by mobilizing funds, such as the Pag-IBIG Fund, for housing financing.
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