(UPDATE) THE new savings rate for members of the Home Development Mutual Fund (HDMF) or Pag-IBIG will generate P38 billion that would be exclusively used to finance the government's Pambansang Pabahay Para sa Pilipino (4PH) program, a Pag-IBIG official said on Thursday.

To be implemented next month, the new rate will enable the HDMF to approve more housing loans with affordable interests, Hilario Aguilar, Pag-IBIG deputy chief executive officer, member services cluster, told a TV news forum.

Aguilar said the P38 billion would be used by the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) to build low-cost condominium units as well as high-rise housing facilities under 4PH.

"We can expect that more of our Pag-IBIG members will avail of the housing loans once these structures are constructed," he said.

Aguilar said the agency will also roll out its Quick Loan program with which members could take out short-term loans using their mobile phones.

Under the program, loans of P5,000, P10,000 and P15,000 can be claimed by the members through their loyalty or cash cards or G-cash, he said.

"These are only small amounts but our members can use these for their emergency needs," he said.

The agency will launch the Health and Education Loan program wherein Pag-IBIG members can use their savings either for their children's tuition fees or emergency medical needs.

With the new rates, Aguilar said all the members' benefits, cash loans and their maturity benefits would double.

For example, based on its old rates, a member would receive around P87,000 upon reaching membership maturity. A member who saves under the new rates over a period of 20 years would receive P174,000.

Pag-IBIG Fund Chief Executive Officer Marilene Acosta said earlier that with the members' higher savings, they would also be entitled to higher multipurpose and calamity loan amounts to help them with their financial needs.

Under the new scheme, the monthly savings of Pag-IBIG Fund members for both the employee's share and the employer's counterpart shall increase to P200 each from the current P100.

This follows the adjustment in the maximum monthly compensation to be used in computing the required 2 percent employee savings and 2 percent employer share for Pag-IBIG Fund members, which shall now increase to P10,000 from P5,000.

Its implementation was again delayed last year on the request of the ECOP to provide the business community more time to recover losses during the pandemic.

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