370,000 Pag-IBIG members avail of calamity loan

Nearly 370,000 Pag-IBIG Fund members, whose houses were damaged by cyclones "Ondoy" and "Pepeng," can now start rebuilding their homes after their applications for calamity loans were approved by the housing fund agency. In a statement, Pag-IBIG Fund said it has released P6.3 billion to a total of 367,405 affected members in Metro Manila and Luzon since it started processing calamity loan applications on September 28, two days after "Ondoy" brought immense amounts of rainfall that flooded wide sections of Metro Manila and nearby provinces. Meanwhile, 171,603 other Pag-IBIG Fund members will still need to wait before their applications are approved. Chief executive officer Jaime Fabiaña of the Home Development Mutual Fund (HDMF, by which Pag-IBIG is also called) said Vice President Noli De Castro has instructed them to expedite the processing of the applications. “We tapped employee volunteers even from our branches in Mindanao and the Visayas to augment the existing manpower by helping receive and process applications. We also asked our vice presidents to help in the signing of the calamity loan checks," Fabiaña said. De Castro also ordered the release of an additional P3 billion on top of the P3 billion funding earmarked for Pag-IBIG’s calamity loan program to address the big volume of applications. Fabiaña explained that due to the extensive damage brought by the twin cyclones, the Fund has been receiving an average of 30,000 calamity loan applications daily, or 12 times more than what they receive during ordinary days. An increasing number of Pag-IBIG members had asked for calamity loans since early October, when President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo announced the government will allow deferred payments for housing loans for one year. On October 3, Mrs. Arroyo said she had brought up the matter with Social Security System (SSS) head Romulo Neri and Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) head Winston Garcia. The President said she also talked to De Castro about a P150,000 incremental home improvement loan for eligible Pag-IBIG Fund members. Fabiaña expressed hopes that the volume of applicants would start to wane in the coming two to three weeks “as more and more affected members are able to claim their loan proceeds." – Aie Balagtas See, GMANews.TV