By Gabriela Baron
Pag-IBIG Fund home loan released reached a record-high of P27.57 billion in the first quarter of 2023.
The released home loans is an increase of P3.36 billion or 14% compared to the P24.21 billion released during the same period in 2022.
“We are happy to report that we have started the year strong by posting a new record-high in home loan releases for the first three months of 2023,” Department of Human Settlement and Urban Development Secretary Jose Rizalino Acuzar said.
“This means that more Filipino workers have been helped by Pag-IBIG Fund in acquiring their own homes. All these are part of our efforts under President Marcos’ Pambansang Pabahay para sa Pilipino Housing or 4PH Program to move forward in solving the housing backlog of our country,” Acuzar added.
The official also noted that the amount of home loans released by the agency during the first quarter enabled 21,870 members to acquire their own homes.
He further noted that out of this total number, 2,968 or 14% are Pag-IBIG Fund members from the minimum-wage and low-income sectors who were able to secure a total of P1.26 billion in socialized home loans.
Meanwhile, Pag-IBIG Fund Chief Executive Officer Marilene Acosta stressed that the agency’s performance at the start of the year shows that it has sustained the momentum of its record-high achievement in 2022, when it released a record-high P117.85 billion in home loans for the year and surpassed the P1 trillion-level in total home loan releases since its inception.
“After coming off our best-performing year in 2022, we have yet again set another record-high in housing loan takeout for the first quarter of 2023… Our strong performance in the housing loan front is an indication of the trust of our members in our programs,” Acosta said.
“More importantly, our record-high numbers reflect the increasing number of Filipino workers we have enabled to gain new or better homes,” she added.
Acosta also vowed that Pag-IBIG will “do its best” to make its housing loan programs and related services accessible to its members. – cf