MANILA, Philippines — PAG-IBIG Fund granted a 60-day grace period on all loan payments and is offering a special loan restructuring program for home loan borrowers in its efforts to provide members financial relief amid the pandemic.
Eduardo del Rosario, chairman of the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development and the 11-member Pag-IBIG board of trustees, said they have granted a one-time, 60-day grace period on payments of all loans in accordance with Republic Act 11494 or the Bayanihan to Recover as One Act (Bayanihan 2), while providing its housing loan borrowers in arrears with a Special Housing Loan Restructuring Program to help update their accounts and keep their homes.
“We heed and support President Duterte’s call to help our fellow Filipinos who are experiencing financial hardships brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. We recognize that this pandemic continues to impact jobs and businesses in the country. And so the board has immediately approved the implementation of the 60-day grace period following the signing of the Bayanihan 2 law and our Special Housing Loan Restructuring Program to provide further financial relief to our members,” Del Rosario said.
He said that under Pag-IBIG Fund’s guidelines, the granting of the 60-day grace period will be applied automatically to all loan payments on the agency’s multi-purpose loan, calamity loan and housing loan which fall due from Sept. 15 until Nov. 14, 2020. The grace period will give borrowers payment reprieve without incurring any penalty, and interest on interest.
“Under the Bayanihan 2 law, the grace period covers loan accounts with up to three months in arrears. But under our approved Pag-IBIG guidelines, we will cover loan accounts with up to nine months in arrears so we can help more borrowers, specifically those whose incomes were affected when community quarantines were first declared in mid-March. And while the accrued interest is payable until Dec. 31 under the Bayahihan 2, Pag-IBIG Fund will allow payment of accrued interest on a staggered basis during the remaining term of the loan, thus providing for an even longer and easier payment term for our borrowers,” Del Rosario said.
The Special Housing Loan Restructuring Program, meanwhile, aims to further help Pag-IBIG housing loan borrowers save their properties from foreclosure. Under the program, borrowers whose finances have been affected by the pandemic may renegotiate the terms of the loan and secure a more affordable payment term. Borrowers can soon apply for the restructuring program online by visiting the Virtual Pag-IBIG until Dec. 15, 2020.
“After our string of ‘best year ever,’ this is the time for Pag-IBIG to show how much we care about our member-borrowers. Under Bayanihan 1, we granted a grace period to 4.77 million borrowers and approved nearly 300,000 applications under our 3-month payment moratorium program. And now, this added grace period and our Special Housing Restructuring Program will help our member-borrowers – especially those who are currently experiencing financial difficulties – even more,” said Pag-IBIG Fund chief executive officer Acmad Rizaldy Moti.