Pag-IBIG Fund members will enjoy a two-fold increase in savings and higher cash loan entitlements while continuing to have access to affordable home loans as the agency is set to implement a 100-percent increase in member contributions starting next month.
Under the agency’s new rates, the monthly savings of Pag-IBIG Fund members for both the employee’s share and the employer’s counterpart shall increase to P200 each, up from P100.
“We at Pag-IBIG Fund have long recognized the need of our members to have higher savings that shall provide them with decent and fair returns upon their retirement, as well as higher cash loans to help them during times of need,” said Housing Secretary Jose Acuzar, who heads the 11-member Pag-IBIG Fund Board of Trustees.
“By implementing the new Pag-IBIG monthly savings rates of both members and employers originally scheduled in 2021, not only would we be able to improve the benefits of our members, we would also be better equipped to finance the growing demand for home loans of our members while maintaining our affordable rates,” Acuzar said.
“All these are in line with the call of President Marcos to provide Filipino workers with opportunities to gain comfortable and productive lives,” he added.
Pag-IBIG Fund’s new monthly rates were initially approved by its Board of Trustees in 2019, after obtaining the concurrence of stakeholders to implement a scheduled increase in 2021, on the back of projections that the amount of loans disbursed will eventually outpace the total collections from both loan payments and members’ savings.
However, due to the difficulties brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, the board deferred the increase.
The agency again deferred the implementation of the increase last year following the request of the Employers’ Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP) to provide the business community with time to further recover from the continuing financial challenges due to the pandemic.
Pag-IBIG Fund chief executive officer Marilene Acosta, for her part, thanked stakeholders for their support to the rate hike and assured members of better benefits.
“We thank the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP), the Federation of Free Workers (FFW), the Philippine Government Employees’ Association (PGEA), Overseas Filipino Workers’ (OFW) Organizations, and ECOP for supporting our plans and for recognizing that raising our monthly savings rates will allow Pag-IBIG Fund to continue to provide affordable home loans to its members in the coming years,” Acosta said.
“It is also important to note that the increase in our monthly savings rates shall benefit our members the most because every peso they save will go to their Pag-IBIG Savings,” she added.
Based on its old rates, a member would receive around P87,000 upon reaching membership maturity.
On the other hand, a member who saves under the new rates over a period of 20 years would receive P174,000 or double the amount.
“And because of their higher savings, they shall also be entitled to higher multi-purpose and calamity loan amounts to help them with their financial needs,” Acosta said.