Pag-IBIG Fund extended socialized housing loans to 10,640 members from the minimum-wage and low-income sectors in the first half of 2021 despite the continuing pandemic, top officials announced Wednesday ( July 21).

The number of socialized home loans make up 24% of the total 43,573 home loans released by the agency from January to June this year. The number is equivalent to P4.66 billion or 11% of the P44.34 billion home loans released by the agency during the first half of the year. Amid the health crisis, the number of socialized home loans increased by 99% - nearly double the 5,357 socialized home loans granted during the same period last year, while the amount released also grew by 111% from P2.21 billion in 2020.

“We believe that home ownership is a right of every Filipino family. With the Affordable Housing Program of Pag-IBIG Fund, achieving the dream of homeownership is made possible especially for minimum-wage workers . The program’s lowest rates and longest term allow our members from the low-income sector to buy or build a home of their own. This is our way of adhering to President Rodrigo Duterte’s call for government institutions to carry out programs that address the needs of the underserved sector,” said Secretary Eduardo D. del Rosario, Chairperson of the 11-member Pag-IBIG Fund Board of Trustees and Secretary of the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD). /