A party-list lawmaker on Sunday warned the state-owned Home Development Mutual Fund, more popularly known as Pag-IBIG Fund, against requiring its members with existing loans to fully pay their unsettled monthly amortizations right after the enhanced community quarantine is lifted in their areas.
Deputy Majority Leader and Bagong Henerasyon Rep. Bernadette Herrera said such move by the Pag-IBIG Fund was not only “unfair,” but also violates Republic Act (RA) 11469 or the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act that she co-authored in Congress.
Herrera took exception to Pag-IBIG’s claim in its social media pages that all loan amortizations due during the quarantine period must be settled on or before the next due date after the lifting of ECQ.
In issuing the warning against Pag-IBIG Fund, Herrera noted that one of the fund’s top officials even said in an interview that all amortizations due must be paid in full on the “first working day” after the ECQ is lifted.
Under Section 4 (aa) of Republic Act 11469, all lending institutions are instructed to grant a 30-day grace period or extension on loan payments during the ECQ without imposing interest or penalties on borrowers.
Pursuant to this provision, the Department of Trade and Industry issued Memorandum Circular No. 20-12, Series of 2020, which provides that any payment due during the ECQ will be deferred to at least 30 days after the due date.
In case of multiple loan payments due within the ECQ, these payments should be amortized or divided equally across six months after the 30-day grace period and to be paid on top of regular payments.
Herrera said the Pag-IBIG Fund should review the relevant provisions of the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act and the DTI circular, and apply them accordingly. “In these trying times, our primary goal must be to ease the burden of our people so that they can focus on overcoming this pandemic and not worry about finances,” Herrera said.
At the same time, Herrera called out the Pag-IBIG Fund for giving borrowers the option to apply for a three-month moratorium on their loan payments, saying the process should be automatic.
Pag-IBIG Fund had announced that borrowers have until June 15 to apply for the moratorium online. The moratorium allows borrowers to pay only one month loan amortization and insurance premiums during the three-month period, on or before the next due date after June 15. “If indeed Pag-IBIG Fund sincerely wants to provide relief to its borrowers in this time of crisis, it should make sure that all of them are covered by the moratorium and need not file a request or application with the fund,” Herrera said.
This developed as Deputy Majority Leader and Quezon City Rep. Precious Castelo on Sunday proposed crafting a “national response and preparedness strategy in addressing pandemics and outbreaks like Covid-19.”
In House Bill 6650, otherwise known as the “Pandemic Preparedness Act of 2020,” Castelo seeks “to strengthen national response and preparedness in the event of public health emergencies such as the occurrence of pandemics and outbreaks.”
“Proactive instead of reactive measures must be put in place when public health is at stake. It is essential to prepare now to prevent a repeat of this Covid-19 disaster in the future,” she said.
“A wait-and-see strategy will never be enough when human lives are at risk. Whenever there is an imminent threat to society, it is necessary that the threat is dealt with appropriately at the outset,” she said.
Castelo said the world was not ready with the Covid-19 outbreak despite having killed other coronaviruses in the past.
Meanwhile, qualified beneficiaries of the “Balik Probinsya, Bagong Pag-Asa” program may be given housing units, according to Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development Secretary Eduardo Del Rosario.
In a statement, del Rosario said those who decide to return back to their provinces are possible recipients of housing units, saying there is an available inventory of units through the National Housing Authority which are unoccupied and unawarded.
The available units nationwide, he said, were originally intended for members of the uniformed services, particularly the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
DHSUD, he said, is “all-out in supporting the Balik Probinsya program not only to decongest highly-urbanized cities but more importantly for the equitable distribution of resources and opportunities.”
“Through the NHA, we are ready to offer our available housing units to those who will decide to settle to the countryside and qualified to receive such assistance,” he added, noting that the department has readily offered a total of 2,289 housing units of the NHA in Batangas, Laguna, and Quezon to families affected by the Taal Volcano eruption.
Del Rosario said the issuance of the EO 114 or “Balik Probinsya, Bagong Pag-Asa” program showed President Rodrigo Duterte’s strong political will to balance development between urbanized areas and the countryside.
“It takes the President’s strong political will in realizing this endeavor meant also in promoting inclusive growth,” he said.
The DHSUD through the NHA, he said, is mandated to provide housing subsidy to those who avail the benefits of resettlement programs in the provinces.