PEZA, Pag-Ibig partner up for housing program

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Economic Zone Authority and the Home Development Mutual Fund (Pag-Ibig) have partnered to provide affordable, accessible, and sustainable housing for PEZA employees and the broader ecozone workforce.

In a statement on Thursday, PEZA said the teamup involves implementing various programs that enable qualified PEZA employees to acquire homes through Pag-Ibig’s financing.

PEZA said beneficiaries will also gain access to a dedicated pool of acquired assets and accredited developer inventories. Bulk and group sale initiatives will also be taken “to make homeownership more attainable,” it added.

READ: Pag-IBIG members may now avail of higher loans: Palace

According to PEZA, more than 600 personnel within its workforce and about 1.8 million Filipinos working in PEZA-registered ecozones nationwide are expected to benefit from this tie-up.

“PEZA commits to study the expansion of these benefits and opportunities afforded by our [memorandum of understanding], that this may be extended to the labor force employed within the ecozones, and will continuously promote Pag-IBIG programs among [PEZA-registered enterprises] in order to create reach for you, added program impact, and for the protection of our labor force,” PEZA Director General Tereso Panga said.

Also, PEZA and Pag-Ibig Fund will enter into a collection servicing agreement to streamline the repayment process and help borrowers better manage their financial obligations.

Full suite of housing programs

Panga said the full suite of housing programs will be available to beneficiaries. These include end-user financing, home improvement loans, rental housing, Expanded Pambansang Pabahay Para sa Pilipino (4PH) Program and access to the Pag-Ibig Acquired Assets Program.

“Alongside Pag-Ibig Fund, we will explore more housing opportunities, identify viable sites and work toward developing PEZA housing projects that are affordable, accessible and sustainable,” he added.

READ: Peza approvals as of September surged 33% to P154.7B

PEZA and Pag-Ibig recently conducted an online briefing to apprise about 500 ecozone workers about PEZA’s latest programs and Pag-Ibig products.

PEZA approved P154.7 billion worth of investments in the January to September period. That was a 33.5-percent increase from a year ago, attributed to strong investor confidence.

The latest figure is equivalent to 61.9 percent of PEZA’s investment approval goal of P250 billion for this year. /rwd