MANILA, Philippines—The Home Development Mutual Fund (Pag-IBIG) has disbursed a record P9.3 billion in calamity loans to more than 600,000 members in Metro Manila as well as northern, southern and Central Luzon, Vice President Noli de Castro said Sunday.
De Castro, chair of the Pag-IBIG board of trustees, said more than two-thirds, or 76 percent, of members who availed themselves of loans were from the National Capital Region. The rest were from Luzon.
“We expect the disbursements to reach P10 billion by the end of December this year, the highest in the fund’s 29-year history. Pag-IBIG by far is the biggest calamity loan provider in the country,” De Castro said in a statement.
Tropical Storm “Ondoy,” “Pepeng,” “Ramil” and “Santi” wrought utter devastation in Luzon over the last two months, killing hundreds and damaging property.
De Castro said 3,123 members had availed themselves of a 3-month moratorium on their amortizations, collectively worth P50.1 million. Pag-IBIG has received 589 applications for insurance claims filed by affected member-borrowers.
Pag-IBIG is coordinating with the insurance companies to ensure the immediate resolution of the claims, De Castro said.
Heeding the clamor of its members, he said the Pag-IBIG board approved last week amendments to the fund’s short-term loan programs for multi-purpose and calamity loans that would take effect in January 2010.
“We listened to the insistent demand of our members to treat the calamity loan as a separate and distinct loan from the multi-purpose loan (MPL). This means that the proceeds of their calamity loans next year would no longer be deducted from their MPL, hence they would get a bigger amount,” De Castro said.
Jaime Fabiana, Pag-IBIG chief executive officer, said members could still avail themselves of MPL even if they have outstanding calamity loans and vice versa.
He said members in Metro Manila can call the HDMF Call Center at 7244244 or visit the nearest branch. They may also visit www.pagibigfund.gov.ph for updates on Pag-IBIG programs.
