Housing agencies offer moratoriums for ‘Pablo’ victims

Vice President Jejomar Binay. FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines – Two housing agencies on Monday announced that their borrowers who were victims of the devastation caused by Typhoon “Pablo” may defer payments for their housing loans.

Vice President Jejomar Binay said that the Home Development Mutual Fund (Pag-IBIG) and the National Home Mortgage Finance Corporation (NHMFC) had imposed three-months and six- month moratoriums, respectively, on amortizations of their housing borrowers.

Binay, also chairman of the Housing and Urban Development Council (HUDCC) and NHMFC Board of Directors, made the announcement after the typhoon slammed Visayas and Mindanao last week.

“Pag-IBIG will provide a three-month moratorium on the payment of housing loan amortizations without penalties or additional interests,” Binay said in a statement, noting that this will cover housing loan borrowers whose property mortgage is in an area declared under a state of calamity.

“However, the borrower must file his application for moratorium within 90 days from the declaration of the state of calamity,” Binay added.

The statement noted that the NHMFC’s moratorium, meanwhile, would be effective from December 2012 to May 2013.

It said affected borrowers must file their applications for moratorium not later than March 15, 2013 supported by a certification from the barangay (village) chairman of the affected area.

It added that NHMFC borrowers who were no longer interested to return to their respective units may voluntarily surrender their properties through dacion en pago, as a mode of settlement of their loan obligations subject to terms and conditions under the law.

Dacion en pago, in Philippine law, is defined as a “special mode of payment whereby the debtor offers another thing to the creditor who accepts it as equivalent of payment of an outstanding obligation.”

Binay also said Pag-IBIG members may apply for a calamity loan which is the equivalent of 80 percent of their total savings.

“Pag-IBIG’s calamity loan now carries a yearly interest rate of 5.95 percent, compared to the previous 10.75 percent,” Binay said.

The death toll from Typhoon Pablo has risen to more than 600 people and authorities feared that the numbers could reach up to 1,000. Search operations continue for the hundreds missing.

The Philippine government also noted that damages from the typhoon could amount to P4 billion, and that it had affected at least 5 million people.