By Jose Rodel Clapano (The Philippine Star) Updated May 26, 2011 12:00 AM
MANILA, Philippines - The Pag-Ibig fund (Home Development Mutual Fund) is ready to accept the housing loans of members of the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS).
Vice President Jejomar Binay who is also the Pag-Ibig chairman, made the statement in reaction to the announcement of GSIS that it would cease its housing loan operations and would transfer to Pag-Ibig the processing of loan applications of its members.
For her part, Pag-Ibig chief executive officer (CEO) Darlene Marie Berberabe said Pag-Ibig has the capability and ability to meet the challenge posed by GSIS.
“We are currently ironing out the policies and procedures, but GSIS members who would like to avail themselves of a housing loan may already file their applications at the Pag-Ibig fund,” Berberabe said.
Berberabe said Pag-Ibig is accepting the new challenge in the light of the steady increase in demand for home loans.
She said generating savings is one of Pag-Ibig’s core mandates.
“After 30 years in the business, our mortgage accounts comprise 45 percent of the entire industry’s loan portfolio, making us the country’s premier housing fund. We take pride in our role in helping make every Filipino worker’s dream of owning their own home a reality,” Berberabe said.
Berberabe cited that for the past five years, or from 2006 to 2010, Pag-Ibig has registered an average growth rate of 17 percent in terms of housing units purchased or constructed.
“And we expect the demand to maintain its constant growth rate. So for this year, Pag-Ibig has allocated a budget of P50 billion for housing finance alone,” Berberabe said.
Berberabe said Pag-ibig has also been consistently profitable, making it one of the best performing financial institution in the country today, private or government.
“For 2010, we have declared P7.882 billion in total dividends, which shall be credited to our members’ total savings proportionately. The amount is equivalent to 71% of our 2010 net income,” Berberabe said.
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