State-owned Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) signed a memorandum of agreement with the Social Housing Finance Corporation (SHFC) to fund socialized housing projects.
The DBP Credit Facility for SHFC Contractors and Developers will provide short-term loans to SHFC-accredited contractors and developers and advance payment for SHFC-approved housing projects for community associations under its Community Mortgage Program (CMP), according to DBP President and Chief Executive Officer Emmanuel G. Herbosa.
Already, DBP has an existing P115-million loan accommodation to an SHFC contractor for the construction of 223 houses for members of the Muslim-Christian Women Homeowners Association in Cagayan de Oro City.
The association members, who were either rendered homeless by typhoon Sendong or displaced during the Marawi siege, had been residing along riverbanks and danger zones in the city.
The Credit Facility for SHFC Contractors and Developers is a sub-component of the DBP flagship program on the housing sector, the Building Affordable Homes Accessible to Every Filipino (BAHAY) program, which covers the end-to-end process of housing development from land acquisition to site development and shelter construction.
“DBP sees this partnership with SHFC as a good opportunity to better carry-out our shared goal of increasing the country’s shelter production, especially for those who belong in the low-income bracket,” according to the President.
SHFC is an attached agency of the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development that takes the lead in the government’s social housing programs.
It administers the CMP and the Abot Kaya Pabahay Fund Program catering to the formal and informal sectors of low-income Filipinos.
“DBP will continue to align its programs to uplift the living conditions of underprivileged communities, financing key players in the shelter sector to address the country’s housing backlog,” Herbosa pledged.
Interested borrowers who wish to avail of the DBP Credit Facility for SHFC Contractors and Developers should be duly-licensed by the PCAB or the Philippine Contractors Accreditation Board.
They should also secure endorsement from the SHFC, which shall conduct both project accreditation and technical evaluation.