The Home Development Mutual Fund, commonly known as the Pag-IBIG Fund, is pivoting toward high-tech construction and strategic industrial partnerships to clear the Philippines' persistent housing backlog, officials said on Monday.

The state-run mortgage agency joined President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in Taytay, Rizal, for the ceremonial launch of a precast manufacturing facility operated by Megawide Construction Corp. The plant is designed to mass-produce structural components for the Expanded Pambansang Pabahay para sa Pilipino Program, or 4PH, the administration’s centerpiece initiative to address a housing deficit estimated at millions of units.

By shifting from traditional on-site pouring to an industrialized "plug-and-play" model, the government aims to drastically reduce the gestation period for socialized housing projects. Precast technology allows for walls, slabs, and beams to be manufactured in a controlled factory environment before being transported for assembly, a method that officials say ensures higher structural integrity while bypassing weather-related delays common in the archipelago.

Jose Ramon P. Aliling, Secretary of the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development and chairman of the Pag-IBIG Fund board, characterized the move as an economic multiplier. Beyond the immediate provision of shelter, Aliling noted that the acceleration of these projects is intended to sustain momentum in the construction sector and stimulate domestic labor markets.

The initiative is underpinned by a significant capital infusion from the state fund. In 2025, Pag-IBIG Fund invested 10 billion pesos in Megawide preferred shares to bankroll the development of 7,143 housing units in Cavite. The investment is structured to yield a 9% annual return, a move intended to bolster the fund’s ability to pay out competitive dividends to its millions of members while simultaneously fulfilling its social mandate.

Pag-IBIG Chief Executive Officer Marilene C. Acosta said the agency’s role extends beyond simple mortgage lending to providing the liquidity necessary for developers to adopt these capital-intensive, modern building methods. The partnership with Megawide is expected to deliver more than 7,000 units within a two-year window, a timeline that would be difficult to achieve through conventional masonry.

The agency’s broader balance sheet reflects this aggressive expansion. Pag-IBIG has approved 27.12 billion pesos in housing development financing, with 8.5 billion pesos already disbursed to support the construction of 21,022 socialized units. This follows a record-breaking 2025, during which the fund released 140.54 billion pesos in housing loans to 90,727 workers. As the 4PH program enters its next phase, the government is betting that the marriage of private-sector industrial capacity and public-sector financing will finally make the goal of affordable, high-quality urban living a scalable reality for the Philippine working class.