MANILA, Philippines – The Home Development Mutual Fund (Pag-IBIG Fund) has decided to forgo its planned increase in member contributions for 2021 due to the pandemic’s economic hardships to provide financial relief to Filipinos.
Jack Jacinto, department manager for public media affairs of the Pag-IBIG Fund, on Friday said the planned increase in the contribution rates of its members and their employers from P100 to P150 will be deferred for the third time.
“Batid natin na patuloy na nag-re-recover ang ating mga miyembro, pati na rin ang ating business community, mula sa epekto ng pandemya at alinsunod na rin sa direktiba ng Pangulong [Ferdinand] Bongbong Marcos Jr. na bigyan ng financial relief ang ating mga kababayan, patuloy nating ipagpapaliban ngayong taong 2023 ang pagtaas ng kontribusyon ng ating mga miyembro at ng kanilang mga employer,” he said in a Laging Handa public briefing.
(We recognize that our members and the business community are still recovering from the effects of the pandemic and in line with the directive of President Ferdinand Bongbong Marcos Jr. to provide financial relief to our countrymen, we will continue to suspend in 2023 the hike in contributions of members and employers.)
This development came after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. ordered the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) to postpone the increase in premium rates and income ceilings supposed to take effect this year, citing the pandemic-induced “prevailing socio-economic challenges” and the need to “provide financial relief” to Filipinos.
In response to the pandemic’s unfortunate economic circumstances, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. ordered Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) to hold off on the scheduled increase in premiums and income ceilings to provide financial respite to Filipinos amid the “prevailing socio-economic challenges.”
READ: PhilHealth premium hike halted in 2023
Jacinto recalled that contributions of Pag-IBIG Fund members were first scheduled for a hike in 2021 but due to the pandemic, it was deferred and was again suspended in 2022.
The last hike in Pag-IBIG Fund contributions was in 1986, he noted.
But according to Jacinto, the “strong financial standing” of the Pag-IBIG Fund will allow it to provide benefits still and attend to the demand for loans from its members sans the contribution rate hike.
House Deputy Minority Leader France Castro earlier sought to postpone the scheduled increase in contributions to the Pag-IBIG Fund and the Social Security System (SSS) in light of the announcement of the PhilHealth contribution rate hike halt.
She called on the Malacañang and the leaders of the SSS and Pag-IBIG Fund to “heed this call so that they will not add to the burden of workers for now.”