A 60-day grace period on all loan payments and a special loan restructuring program for home loan borrowers are offered by the Pag-IBIG Fund to aid its borrowers amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Pag-IBIG Fund’s top officials announced this on Sept. 25 as part of its efforts to provide members financial relief amid the pandemic. Secretary Eduardo del Rosario, chairman of the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development and the 11-member Pag-IBIG Fund Board of Trustees, said that the agency has granted a one-time 60-day grace period on payments of all loans in accordance with Republic Act No. 11494, otherwise known as the Bayanihan to Recover as One Act (Bayanihan 2).
Its housing loan borrowers in arrears, on the other hand, will be provided 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,” Del Rosario said. “We recognize that this pandemic continues to impact jobs and businesses in the country,” he added.
Del Rosario added 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 September 15 until November 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 3 months in arrears. But under our approved Pag-IBIG guidelines, we will cover loan accounts with up to 9 months in arrears so we can help more borrowers, specifically those whose incomes were affected when community quarantines were first declared in mid-March,” Del Rosario explained.
While the accrued interest is payable until Dec. 31 under the Bayanihan 2, Pag-IBIG fund will allow the payment of accrued interest on a staggered basis during the remaining term of its borrowers. This, Del Rosario said, will provide for an even longer and easier payment term for them.
Meanwhile, the Special Housing Loan Restructuring Program, 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.
The borrowers can soon apply for the restructuring program online by visiting the Virtual Pag-IBIG until December 15, 2020.
While it continues to help its members who are currently experiencing financial difficulties, Pag-IBIG Fund Chief Executive Officer Acmad Rizaldy Moti also “encourage our borrowers who are capable of paying, to continue paying their loans.”
“Better collections will allow us to keep offering loans at low interest rates to more members,” Moti said. “Help us in helping more members because together, we can overcome the challenges we are facing today,” he ended.