MANILA – State-run Home Development Mutual Fund (Pag-IBIG) on Monday reported an all-time high disbursement of multipurpose loans (MPLs) or cash loans in the first half of the year.
Disbursements grew by 6 percent to reach a record high of P25.57 billion in the first semester, covering a total of 1,227,023 members.
This compares with P1.50 billion in the same period last year, and P24.07 billion for the full-year 2018.
“We are exerting all efforts to assist Pag-IBIG members with their immediate financial needs, following the directive of President RodrigoDuterte to provide Filipinos with affordable loans so that they will not resort to loan sharks,” Eduardo del Rosario, chairperson of the Pag-IBIG Fund Board of Trustees, said in a prepared statement.
“As testament to our support for this directive, Pag-IBIG Fund—in the first six months of 2019 alone—has already assisted more than 1.2 million members through the MPL program,” he added.
Established in June 1978, the fund seeks to administer a sustainable provision of accessible funds for its members.
“Our Multi-Purpose Loan program serves as an affordable and readily-accessible source of cash loans,” said Pag-IBIG Fund chief executive officer Acmad Rizaldy Moti.
“The MPL proceeds can be used for tuition fees, medical expenses, minor home improvement, capital for business, or even for vacation expenses,” added Moti.
The MPL program allows qualified members to borrow up to 80 percent of their total Pag-IBIG regular savings, which consists of their monthly contributions, their employer’s contributions, and accumulated dividends earned.
“The loans are payable within 24 months, and comes with a deferred first payment, and an interest rate of 10.5 percent per annum.
“We recognize that our members secure an MPL to address an immediate need. It is why we work doubly hard to process their loan applications promptly. With the stabilization of our upgraded system last year, members are now able to receive their loan proceeds in an average of 1.8 working days,” Moti said.
“This faster processing time allowed us to serve more members, which is shown by the 8 percent growth in the number of loan releases or an additional 93,886 members aided by the MPL program in the first half of this year compared to same period in 2018,” he added.
In total, the Pag-IBIG Fund released some P26.26 billion in short-term loans, benefitting 1,267,616 members in the first half of the year.
This includes the amount disbursed through its MPL Program, and the P688.25 million in Calamity Loans released to help 40,593 members. (GMA News)
