Senate boosts Pag-IBIG Fund

Written by Rizal Raoul Reyes / Correspondent

Wednesday, 24 December 2008 17:59

SEN. Edgardo Angara is making a pitch to enhance the Home Development Mutual Fund (HDMF), or the Pag-IBIG Fund, with a view to hurdling the financial crisis while helping ordinary Filipinos to access housing resources. He has filed Committee Report 234, which provides for the strengthening of the Pag-IBIG Fund and updating Presidential Decree 1752, as amended. “This effort toward strengthening the Home Development Mutual Fund or the Pag-IBIG Fund stems from the need to initiate major financial reforms amid the global financial crisis. The Pag-IBIG Fund law is one of the twin measures we are trying to institute in response to the economic slowdown brought about by the financial crisis,” Angara said. The other initiative is the increase in the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp.’s deposit insurance coverage, said Angara, the chairman of the Committee on Banks, Financial Institutions and Currencies. “We acknowledge the right of every citizen to a decent home and sufficient shelter by providing housing through mobilization of funds for shelter finance,” he said, noting as well the “other national economic benefits we can derive from a stronger housing sector and integrated nationwide provident savings system.” According to the panel’s report, the new Pag-Ibig charter will have three key amendments restoration of the tax exemption privilege of Pag-IBIG Fund; granting of power to the Pag-IBIG board of Trustees to set contribution rates; and adoption of a compensation plan for employees comparable with the ones prevailing in the private sector. Angara said the Senate realizes the importance of the housing sector in terms of providing jobs. In the fiscal year 2009 budget, the housing sector will receive an allocation of P5.3 billion. And, from data provided by the so-called shelter agencies, an additional 607,003 jobs are expected to be created. “These domestic employment opportunities will serve our people well in the coming year, when working abroad will start losing its luster and the outsourcing jobs we currently rely on will slowly shrink,” said Angara. Pag-IBIG Fund, also known as HDMF, is a provident savings system created under Presidential Decree 1752. It was established to motivate the employed and other earning groups to better plan and provide for their housing needs. The HDMF is mandated to generate savings through membership in an integrated nationwide savings system and to mobilize the provident funds of its members for housing purposes. The name Pag-IBIG Fund was coined during the term of minister of Human Settlements and former First Lady Imelda Marcos as the Fund’s chairman. It stands for “Pagtutulungan Para sa Kinabukasan: Ikaw, Ako, Industriya at Gobyerno.”